Is Yahoo`s New CEO Up to the Challenge? - What about Microsoft?
(Page 3 of 4 )
The most obvious challenge facing Bartz and Yahoo right now, of course, is something of an elephant in the room – a very large elephant named Microsoft. Yang and Ballmer struggled for the better part of a year to come to terms on some kind of a deal, with the press speculating wildly about everything from Yang's commitment to a deal (or lack thereof) to whether the two companies, once combined, would be able to compete successfully with Google. When the two sides could not settle on a price, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer insisted that his company was no longer interested in buying Yahoo, and that he was putting the whole situation behind him.
It's hard not to wonder, at this point, whether or not he was serious. As recently as January 9, Ballmer said that a deal between the two companies could happen within the next few months, thanks to new leadership in place at both companies. At that time, he was anticipating a new CEO at Yahoo – someone who might be more amenable to a deal than Yang. Additionally, Microsoft's Online Services Group, which includes search, now has a Yahoo veteran at its head – Dr. Qi Lu.
Here's more evidence that Ballmer's not ready to walk away: the press have been reporting that he and Bostock have met at least twice in the past couple of weeks. In the same time frame, Bartz said she had a telephone conversation with Ballmer. He may not be interested in buying all of Yahoo, but he's certainly interested in doing some kind of search deal.
Would Bartz be willing to go along with a such a deal? Should she? There doesn't seem to be a clear answer to either of these questions. While the press is widely reporting that she has a “gut feeling” not to sell Yahoo's search assets, a more precise reading of what she actually said seems to indicate otherwise. Her actual words were that her gut feeling was, why would you sell? In other words, she might sell, after due consideration of arguments on both sides, if there were compelling reasons. At least, that's the sense that Rob Hof, writing for Business Week, seemed to take away from what she said.
Whether she should go along with such a deal is, again, another question altogether. Danny Sullivan thinks the two companies should go ahead and get it over with. Abby Klaassen, writing for Advertising Age, however, has a different take: “if Yahoo sells search it loses the thing that most sets it apart from other display-ad-centric portals: It has both.” Losing search could mean that Yahoo loses something that has let it survive this long rather than fade like other portals.
Next: Yahoo's Other Challenges >>
More Search Engine News Articles
More By Terri Wells
