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Filed under: News, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Search

Microsoft, Yahoo! announce a search deal

ChoiceValueInnovation
After years of back and forth negotiations, Microsoft and Yahoo! have announced a 10-year deal to work together on internet search and advertising.

Under the agreement, Microsoft will get exclusive access to Yahoo!'s search technologies, which may then be integrated into the company's Bing search engine. What's more intriguing is that Bing will then "be the exclusive algorithmic search and paid search platform for Yahoo! sites."

In other words, while I (and probably many other people) tend to think of Yahoo! as a search engine first, and a web portal second, the partnership basically hands the keys of Yahoo! search over to Microsoft, leaving Yahoo! to focus on other aspects of its web portal and other properties including Flickr.

Yahoo! will also take over as the primary sales force for search ads on both Microsoft and Yahoo! properties, while each company will maintain its own display ad division.

According to the press release, it could take as long as 2 years for the whole deal to go through once it's approved by regulators.

Despite early reports that Microsoft was looking to purchase Yahoo!, today's announcement outlines the details of a partnership, not a merger. Yahoo! and Microsoft will continue to operate their own web portals, video sites, email, IM, and other properties, many of which will be in direct competition with one another.

The companies have launched a new website at ChoiceValueInnovation.com to provide additional details as things develop. Try not to laugh too hard at the name.

Filed under: Microsoft, Yahoo!

Yahoo bid is no more, Microsoft withdraws

Yahoo bid is no more
Earlier today we covered how the Microsoft and Yahoo thing might actually go through, or go bust altogether. Long story short: Microsoft withdrew its offer.

Three months after everyone went bananas because Microsoft put out the bid to buy Yahoo, Ballmer finally says it's "in the best interest of Microsoft" to withdraw its bid. And probably in the best interest of, and great relief to, Yahoo product users who thought Microsoft would ravage all that was good about the services and turn Flickr into some sort of Microsoft Photo Share Premium Family Live while Yahoo Mail would spend eternity as Hot Live Yahoo Mail. Microsoft shareholders who didn't think the bid was a good idea in the first place are probably pretty happy too. And Google. And probably a lot of other people.

So what does the future look like for Microsoft? Keep going of course, says Ballmer: "While Yahoo would have accelerated our strategy, I am confident that we can continue to move forward toward our goals." And Yahoo will probably have to deal with lawsuits from disgruntled shareholders that thought this was a really good idea.

And, if the details of this drama intrigue you, read the whole "not to be" letter from Ballmer to Yang.

[via paidContent]

Filed under: News, Microsoft, Yahoo!

Microsoft to Yahoo!: You've got 3 weeks before we get hostile

Microhoods
OK, we know it's a long shot, but wouldn't it be great if Microsoft succeeded in its bid to buy Yahoo! and then renamed the company Microhoo? Because when you type "Microhoo" into Yahoo!'s search engine right now, one of the suggestions is "Microhoods." And given Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's recent letter to the Yahoo! Board, that seems like as accurate a description as any.

Essentially, Ballmer told the board that they've got 3 weeks to accept Microsoft's offer, currently valued at $42 billion in cash and stocks. If the board refuses, Microsoft will take the offer directly to Yahoo!'s shareholders and nominate a slate of board members to replace the current board.

The original offer was 62% higher than Yahoo!'s closing share price on January 31, one day before the offer was made. Ballmer says the goal was to facilitate a "speedy and ultimately friendly transaction." Since that hasn't happened, Ballmer indicates Microsoft might be willing to get a little less friendly, and suggests that Microsoft would drop its offer price if the company has to resort to a proxy contest.

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The World's Hardest Game 2.0 - Time Waster

So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

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