BREAKING: Microsoft Proposes Yahoo! Takeover at $31 per Share (44 Billion $ Takeover)

More: Microsoft Makes $44.6 Billion Bid for Yahoo after Yahoo Rejects Partnerships, Merger[/quote]

Interesting. I would imagine that Google will be a bit worried about this.

Apple - Google merger anyone?

Does it really matter? What can Microsoft do with Yahoo that they couldn't do with their MSN service?

I can't really see this being good for Microsoft, really. If they're trying to compete with Google, I guess it may help, but is it worth $45 billion?


And this really should be in the Current Events forum. Not all news belongs here just because the Community forum gets more traffic.

Yeah, it's really amazing.... I can't even comprehend numbers that large!

I don't understand how this will help Microsoft either. I guess that they want to take their search technology to the next level, and this was the way to do it. Perhaps it is their only viable way to stay caught-up with Google, because Google sure appears to have a lot of energy and innovation right now.

Yeah I also agree I don't see how this would help Microsoft, but Microsoft probably has enough money to make this seem like not too huge of a deal.

edit: just kidding!

Abstract said:

And this really should be in the Current Events forum. Not all news belongs here just because the Community forum gets more traffic.

Click to expand...

Completely agreed but we're on the main news forum instead; it's that newsworthy.

M$ buys Yahoo! and turns it into something crap. MSN Search anyone?

Zwhaler said:

Yeah I also agree I don't see how this would help Microsoft, but Microsoft probably has enough money to make this seem like not too huge of a deal.

Click to expand...

Yea Microsoft has about $30bn just in cash right now.

tringo said:

Yea Microsoft has about $30bn just in cash right now.

Click to expand...

Oh *****, I thought they had more

Abstract said:

Does it really matter? Why can Microsoft do with Yahoo that they couldn't do with their MSN service?

I can't really see this being good for Microsoft, really. If they're trying to compete with Google, I guess it may help, but is it worth $45 billion?


And this really should be in the Current Events forum. Not all news belongs here just because the Community forum gets more traffic.

Click to expand...

I can see it being important to Microsoft who are still struggling to gain marketshare in the search engine market.

As of Jan 2008, marketshare is as follows:

Google: 77%
Yahoo!: 12%
Microsoft: 6%
Others: 5%

So, if MS could bought Yahoo!, it would give them more power in the search engine market. Still no where near Google though.

One more reason why I'll continue to Google

Microsoft will never hit it big in the search engine market. They're way too late, and plus, "Google" has already made it into the dictionary as a verb. Nearly everyone uses it. They won't be able to monopolize this industry just by setting Windows Live as the default search provider, either. People are smart now. They know how to get to Google.

I just hope that they don't mess with flickr. I could careless that they are aquiring Yahoo; just leave flickr as it is.

I think it makes sense for Microsoft, but I hope it doesn't happen.

I've never liked any of Microsoft's web services, but I do use a few of Yahoo!'s (mail, stocks, flickr, kelkoo). MS seem to keep trying to get a decent web presence... and failing. They may as well just buy Yahoo!, so they can screw that up that as well. Go Microsoft!

SL

I see this as yet more evidence that Ballmer is the wrong man for the top job at MS. He's only interested in Yahoo! for two reasons, the advertising revenue and to "****ing Kill Google!!" . The sales guy wants to peddle sales.

In the meantime their tech products will flounder as their competitors close in. If this continues MS will end up like IBM, a services and consulting based company with a few tech products for the enterprise.

Really quite sad. Sell MSFT if you have it.

Seems true:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7222114.stm

davidjearly said:

I can see it being important to Microsoft who are still struggling to gain marketshare in the search engine market.

As of Jan 2008, marketshare is as follows:

Google: 77%
Yahoo!: 12%
Microsoft: 6%
Others: 5%

Click to expand...

Exactly. They're paying $45 billion dollars for another 12% of the market. They're paying a LOT of money to be 2nd place. They may as well buy the other 5% instead of Yahoo.

Martin C said:

I just hope that they don't mess with flickr. I could careless that they are aquiring Yahoo; just leave flickr as it is.

Click to expand...

You mean Windows Live Photo?

Zwhaler said:

Yeah I also agree I don't see how this would help Microsoft, but Microsoft probably has enough money to make this seem like not too huge of a deal.

Click to expand...

Because you say, Man, google this for me would you. Apple's still doing well if you check out the charts on Yahoo! Finance. Hey, Jim skyped me from Osaka; yeah, he's still there on his Fulbright deal. Man, you should put this on your iPod, listen to it while you take the train to work (but the person to whom your speaking has a Creative Zen).

And you say, with AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, Skype, Jabber, that idiot buddy of mine still insists on using MSN Messenger, so I have to keep it on my computer.

That's how this will help Microsoft.

Personally, I love the off-to-the-ovens-with-you tone in the announcement. You know, just delousing, that's all, move along, move along. That or a more Ridley Scott does PK Dick "A fabulous new life awaits you in the off-world colonies."

I think they're mad.

Yahoo! are going backwards, and I hardly think MS have the know how to turn it around. They can't even make their own online services more popular.

$45bn down the plughole.

I just hope that when Apple decide to spend their billions, it's a bit more imaginative/exciting. If I was a MSFT shareholder I'd find this news to be both underwhelming and worrying. That's a lot of money.

dynamicv said:

I see this as yet more evidence that Ballmer is the wrong man for the top job at MS. He's only interested in Yahoo! for two reasons, the advertising revenue and to "****ing Kill Google!!" . The sales guy wants to peddle sales.

In the meantime their tech products will founder as their competitors close in. If this continues MS will end up like IBM, a services and consulting based company with a few tech products for the enterprise.

Really quite sad. Sell MSFT if you have it.

Click to expand...

Ballmer is a moron. Compare him to Jobs, when Jobs half-lies to you, cuts corners on customer service, you still walk away feeling like he personally *made* Apple do something for you. Ballmer's "stand behind our product" announcement of taking a 3 billion dollar write-off on 360 repairs, extending the warranty on all 360 consoles to 3 years, refunding anyone who had paid for repairs. He said, We're going to take care of our customers. If anyone has a defective hardware failure up to 3 years after purchase, we're going to take care of you, free, no problem.

What he didn't say: All the 360s hardware problems, pretty much save dropping it, are due to excess heat. The "3 red lights" failure is a heat-related failure. All the other onboard chip failures are heat-related. But you got your 1 light, 2 light and our 3 light failures. He didn't mention the part where you only have 2 lights or 1 light, same defect or no, you can go take a flying leap.

Sinister.

Reminds me of another bald guy we got running things.

I've always thought that Microsoft and Yahoo! have natural synergy - they both offer bloated products with dreadful interfaces. Microsoft will doubtless drag Yahoo! down even further.

as a Mac user

I feel this is a bit alarming as a Mac user.

While the iPhone supports Gmail nicely, many ISPs bundle services with Yahoo which plays nice with the iPhone as well. I would hate to see MSFT take Yahoo and somehow bastardize it to become Apple/iPhone unfreindly, whick is very possible.

More concerning is the fact that variety and competition is good. Yahoo has plusses and minuses. I like some of the free servies they provide like Yahoo Answers, Flickr, etc. I have found the entire Microsoft Live and MSN and Hotmail family to be lacking. I would always get spam, never plays nice with Firefox, Opera, etc. ( maybe it does now, I have not tried in a while).

All in all, I fear that Microsoft will try to rebrand Yahoo and steer its tarffic to a Branded product and thus hurt a lot fo what makes it tick.

As another poster stated, it makes some sense for MSFT to buy the other 5% and start a massive ad campaign. But unless Google stumbles, they have no hope. But perhaps Yahoo knows they also have no hope and this is a fast and cheap bail out to make the founders millions more and exit the game early.

I use Google not Yahoo, now I have a strong reason not to use Yahoo.
M$ will not get money from me or because of me if I can help it.