Yahoo!, Inc. (YHOO)

kristm (99.86) Submitted: 2/01/08 11:20 AM

Recs: 1 | Rec This

Microsoft won't buy Yahoo!. Even if shareholders approve it (and they will, considering the price being offered), the government will not. Remember that we spent the better part of five years fighting in court to break Microsoft up because they were too big? Buying Yahoo! would make them much, much bigger. No way.

Report this Post Reply

valunvesthere (33.21) Submitted: 4/02/08 10:42 PM

Recs: 0 | Rec This

Hello kristm,

I agree, Microsoft's got a ton of cash and should address the search engine problem.

They should complete the Yahoo! buyout by paying the reasonable asking price by Co-founder and CEO Jerry Yang, Yahoo! board of directors, and majority of Yahoo! shareholders.

The longer Microsoft delays the Yahoo! buy out the further they'll be behind Research & Developement in Search Engine technology. If Microsoft believes it's too much $$$, it's not because they can always make that money back.

From Valunvesthere.

Report this Post Reply

kristm (99.86) Submitted: 4/04/08 1:04 PM

Recs: 0 | Rec This

Microsoft is running on fumes - they're powerful fumes, but still fumes regardless. Their own internet division loses millions each year, their interactive devices/small electronics division is a black hole... The only place MSFT is making any money is from Office and Windows (as usual). And Windows Vista is a bust, it's not making mad upgrade money - XP is more profitable than Vista is. They announced yesterday that XP will be available until September because of all the demand for it - they had originally said no more XP in January, then changed to June. Microsoft just doesn't have it anymore. I saw a good quote last night on roughlydrafted.com : "Maybe that's too much to ask of a company run by a chair throwing, mouth breathing, meathead who has been a bazillionare all his life, but acts like a nouveau riche multilevel marketer selling used cars." Exactly. They're clueless.
You know who else is clueless? Yahoo! is clueless. Maybe not equally so, but they're still a day late and a buck short. Their search technology is no more impressive than MSN/Live is, they have interoperable second-place IM programs, both have social networks that nobody uses, and both have inferior also-run paid-placement advertising programs. MSFT will just buy YHOO, rebrand it, manage it to death, rebrand it again, and then it'll be the same as what they have now, or worse. Combining stupid with stupid doesn't add up to smart, it just gives Google one target instead of two. Ms can buy Yahoo! for $32 a share or $64 a share or $5 a share, but it doesn't matter and won't really help either one of them. YHOO needs to stay independent and bring in some quality management who can think outside the box and bring it ahead with new ideas instead of trying to chase ideas done better by others. Lean and mean and smart instead of buried six layers deep in a company full of suits and salesmen. You know who Yahoo! needs? A smart, small company with no Internet properties that directly compete with Yahoo!'s existing sites. A company like Apple. That makes a lot more sense than marrying Microsoft. And Apple has almost as much buying power as MS does.

Report this Post Reply

valunvesthere (33.21) Submitted: 4/11/08 12:37 AM

Recs: 0 | Rec This

Hello KRISTM,

NewsCorp, may join Microsoft on Yahoo Bid

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080409.wyahoom0409/BNStory/Technology/?cid=al_gam_nletter_techweekly

From Valunvesthere.

Report this Post Reply

kristm (99.86) Submitted: 4/11/08 7:12 PM

Recs: 0 | Rec This

And Yahoo! is trying to buy/be bought by/merge with AOL. I think News Corp/Fox would like to merge MySpace with something else, anything else, before people realize that social networking sites (especially theirs) aren't particularly profitable. MySpace serves up a LOT of pages but their audience is primarily kids with limited resources, and most of their advertisers really stink. Google is whining that their last quarter was down due to social network site underperformance... They're the primary provider of text-based advertising for MySpace.

Microsoft doesn't care about all that, their own Internet business hasn't made money two quarters in a row in the 12 1/2 years it's been in existence. Microsoft just wants all the cookies for itself, not to eat them but so nobody else has any cookies. Microsoft already has a stake in Facebook, not much of a stake but enough to keep Facebook from using Google. A combined Yahoo!/MySpace/MSN would be an all-Microsoft advertising platform in due time, combined with their control of Facebook and we're getting into dangerous territory. I'm not entirely sure it would be a good idea for one company to control that many eyeballs, and the government would probably agree with me.

As for Yahoo!/AOL, I don't think that's going to work out because AOL is almost as big a stinker as Yahoo! is... If it made money like it should TWX wouldn't have been trying to unload it for the last six years. Google has a small share of AOL so any deal between Yahoo! and AOL would have to involve them, too.

If Microsoft buys Yahoo!, two of the four main instant messaging platforms would be coming together under one roof. They're already able to interoperate, but are distinctly operated by two companies. MySpace also has its own browser-based Im platform, so that would be in there too. If Yahoo! and AOL hooked up, three of the four would be together - AIM, ICQ, and Y! Messenger. IM isn't as profitable as social networking, but it's a foot in the door and forces users to have an account and see ads and get e-mail and whatever else. the DOJ has sniffed around instant messenger platform collusion before, and I don't have much doubt that they'd slam the door on the three main IM platforms belonging to one company.

But all that aside, stupid stupid stupid stupid still doesn't equal smart. MSN, AOL, Yahoo!, and (to a certain extent) MySpace are all run by people who seem to be about as smart as a box of rocks. They're not going to get ahead of Google. They're also not going to suddenly become profitable - of Yahoo, AOL, MSN, and MySpace, only MySpace and Yahoo! are making money and Y! isn't making much of it. It's all just a bunch of puffery and strutting around to prove whose [expletive] is biggest and who gets to keep everyone else's cookies. They're all getting off message and losing focus, working on mergers and trying not to get bought out, instead of working to improve their user experiences, which is why they're all losers in the first place.

Longest. Reply. EVER.

Report this Post Reply

valunvesthere (33.21) Submitted: 4/21/08 1:37 AM

Recs: 0 | Rec This

Hello Kristm,

With Googles strong earnings as of 2008 first quarter (April 18/2008) it's pressuring MSN (Microsoft) more reason in needing to acquire Yahoo! quickly to compete with Google in the online advertising business. I'm betting Jerry Yang,Yahoo board of directors, and Yahoo shareholders will get what they want!!!

What a better way for MSN (Microsoft) to jump to Second spot behind Google and eliminate a competitor by acquiring YAHOO!

At present it's Google, Yahoo!, MSN, AOL, and some independants. After Microsoft gives in on Jerry Yang's, Yahoo board of directors, and Yahoo! shareholders demands there'll be three and some independants. (reminds me of Agatha Christie's novel, "And then there were none.")

From Valunvesthere.

Report this Post Reply

kristm (99.86) Submitted: 4/21/08 7:35 PM

Recs: 0 | Rec This

I think they'll get what they want too - and they want to NOT be Microsoft's next wife. Kinda like being the 6th or 7th spouse when you know all the others were either murdered or ran away after being abused. They'll sell to AOL or the big Goo before they give in to MSFT, and I don't think ANYBODY can afford the bloodiness and pain of a hostile takeover. As long as Yahoo! hangs onto its stake in Y! Asia Microsoft won't have the capacity to force them into a deal without choking on the costs. Even billionaires have their limits, or the stockholders do anyway. If Microsoft starts a hostile takeover of Yahoo the shareholders will vote Ballmer out on the street (which they should probably do anyway).

Report this Post Reply

kristm (99.86) Submitted: 6/20/08 4:12 PM

Recs: 0 | Rec This

There's a total brain-drain within Yahoo!'s upper ranks. The company has failed to invest into new technology and R&D work and now its smartest people are hitting the road. This could well end up being the next Mamma.com, a washed-up dotcom wannabe.

Report this Post Reply