Yahoo! Rejects Microsoft Bid!

[barnettgs]

No, that's Google. Google is big and getting bigger.

Microsoft was a monopoly and getting weaker. I'd be much more afraid of Google than MS. I've never been afraid of Microsoft, and yet I'm afraid of what Google can do. They have more control over information than anyone else, and THAT makes them scarier than anyone else.

I never understand the people who are afraid of what Google can do? You don't have to use it if you don't like it.

Unlike Microsoft, Google does not sell products or force their products down the people's throats!

Thanks to Microsoft's monopoly, you're forced to buy Microsoft products because everyone is already using it in order to share the documents but thankfully, Google saved the day with their free online office which can open/save both Open Office and MS Office documents!

Google may have made big money but then, it doesn't comes from the people's pocket and doesn't do some annoying in-your-face flash adverting like you have seen on Hotmail and MSN site.

At the end of the day, people choose what they want to use and Google succeed in this respect.

 

[50548]

Yahoo!: 2. Microsoft: 0.

This is the second time Microsoft's been beaten down by Yahoo! Good ol' "developers, developers, developers" Ballmer doesn't seem to take no for an answer. Then again, Ray Ozzie isn't the brightest bulb on the ceiling either.

It's really a pity, because a takeover would accelerate MS's demise in the IT world. They are close to irrelevant now and would definitely need external financing to complete the purchase of Yahoo...watch for MS's floundering of its remaining cash cows (Windows and Office) in the next 3 years...Apple will have surpassed their value and probably offered them some money in order to put them out of their misery.

Once more, this is bad, since MS would be in an even worse shape than it is right now. As for Yahoo, just another monolithic player in the real market of tomorrow...in other words, the Netscape of the 21st century.

 

[tcoleman]

Microsoft luckily did not suffer the fate that bestow upon Time Warner when it acquired AOL. Watch as Yahoo marketshare evaporate to the level of ask.com, and soon Yahoo will be worthless. I must admire, Jerry's pride overcoming his greed.

Nothing to see here
move along people

Cinch

Actually, it was AOL that bought Time Warner.

 

[alec]

The tyranny is [temporarily] over!

 

[jhsfosho]

Good for yahoo. Don't let microsoft buy you out.

 

[Scottgfx]

...As a rule, I try to support the underdog as far as possible:
MP3 players: No Apple, Creative or Microsoft. I'll take a Cowon or iRiver...

No, you're being a masochist.

Microsoft, Google, Apple, etc. are all big companies... and they are all out to make a profit...

I am very thankful for that. If they didn't make a profit, they would have no incentive to develop newer and better products. (In Microsoft's case "for better or worse")

 

[SiliconAddict]

Woohoo! Its nice to seen a company grow a pair against MS.

 

[objc]

This is a joke, right? Google has between 1/2 and 2/3 of the search market. If you don't like Google, you can use Microsoft Live Search, ask.com, or (at least for now) Yahoo search. There may be others. If you don't like Windows, often times you don't have a choice if there's a certain app you need to run. Say you're an engineer. Can you run Solidworks on a Mac? Only if you install Windows. In addition, GMail has a lot fewer users than either Yahoo Mail or Hotmail. GMail is gaining ground, but is still far behind. But they give you pop and IMAP access to your accounts. So how can they lock you in there?

Compare that to Microsoft. They have over 90% of the PC operating system business, and they trying very hard to take over the market for server OS. They're pushing their crappy Exchange/Outlook combo and it's used in almost every business and university. I know, it's creeping in where I work. They're also trying really hard to take over web servers. It'll be a cold day in hell before we run web servers on anything but UNIX, but for a lot of others, that's not the case.

What about "personal productivity" software. Something like 95% there for Microsoft.

I'd really like to see Google take Microsoft down a few notches. You'd see flying chairs all over Redmond.

No, that's Google. Google is big and getting bigger.

Microsoft was a monopoly and getting weaker. I'd be much more afraid of Google than MS. I've never been afraid of Microsoft, and yet I'm afraid of what Google can do. They have more control over information than anyone else, and THAT makes them scarier than anyone else.

MS can offer $28 per share in 1 year, and it would be an offer no Yahoo shareholder could refuse.

 

[Stampyhead]

Microsoft, Google, Apple, etc. are all big companies... and they are all out to make a profit. As a rule, I try to support the underdog as far as possible:

MP3 players: No Apple, Creative or Microsoft. I'll take a Cowon or iRiver
OS: Bye-bye Windows. When the updated MBP comes out, I'll switch
Search Engine: I prefer Google better, but I try to use some Yahoo and even Microsoft.

Allowing any company to become a monopoly is something that will eventually come back to bite us.

That's a silly rule. Why not go with whichever product is better? Just because someone is the underdog doesn't mean their product/service is better. Some companies rise to the top for a reason (MS excluded)

 

[Towhead]

It bothers me to see those claims, that a company that does nothing but provide online content and portals is worth $45 billion bucks. That's B-I-L-L-I-O-N. For something you can't even touch.

Myself, I've never used Yahoo for anything.

 

[hob]

[]

 

[Unspeaked]

Microsoft issued a statement this afternoon calling Yahoo's decision "unfortunate" and reiterating their thought that the merge is in the best interest of both companies.

Wallstreet is now speculating that instead of the higher buyout price Yang was looking for, they're going to go for between $25 and $30 a share now!

What difference a week makes...

 

[LizKat]

Yeh well now it's May 1, and Ballmer is starting to sound like he's only doing the hostile part of "hostile takeover" and not bothering with the takeover part!

From Bloomberg today

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=amxRrdVsxUaE

"I know exactly what I think Yahoo is worth to me, exactly,'' Ballmer said in a meeting with employees, according to remarks provided by spokesman Frank Shaw. "I won't go a dime above, and I will go to what I think it's worth if that gets the deal done.''

Personally I hope someone else takes Yahoo off Ballmer's to-do list.

 

[reubs]

I don't follow all of this tech-merger stuff very closely, but MS seems to be acting like a bunch of douchebags through all of this. When I heard they were talking "hostile takeover" all I could think of was a washed-up army using as many threats as they could against a world that didn't think much else of them any more anyway. I know Mac fans loathe Ballmer, and it seems like everyone has a right to. It seems like if the bid is rejected, go back to your barracks, regroup, and come up with another offer. No need to throw the word "hostile" out there because then the consumer is going to hate you even more.

I say all of this as someone who isn't trained in business methods or merger/acquisitions, etc, but as someone who just hates to see competition go out the window when someone tries to buy up the competition. I hope MS ends up with egg all over the face at the end of all of this.

 

[JNB]

No need to throw the word "hostile" out there because then the consumer is going to hate you even more.

The term "hostile" has nothing to do with behavior or attitude, it refers to the method of acquisition, where the company being bought doesn't agree to the purchase, but the purchasing company acquires sufficient stock through proxies or tender offers to complete the bid over the purchased company's objections.

If you don't want to be bought out, don't let go of a controlling stake in your company. That, or don't go public in the first place.