Maybe it was a virtual Spring fever that almost brought Microsoft and Yahoo together. For a while it looked like “MicroHoo” would join TomKat, Brangelina and Bennifer in the list of other celebrity compound names. But yesterday MS and Yahoo called it quits and decided they both needed more “My Space” acknowledging things would be best if they both starting seeing other ad platforms. As Spring turns to Summer, the unrequited love of a corporate giant for a younger, more Web enabled search engine was not to be.
“It is unfortunate that Yahoo! has not embraced our full and fair proposal to combine our companies.” — Microsoft press statement, Feb 11, 2008
“In the weeks since Microsoft withdrew its offer to acquire Yahoo!, the two companies have continued to discuss an alternative transaction that Microsoft believes would have delivered in excess of $33 per share to the Yahoo! shareholders. This partnership would ensure healthy competition in the marketplace, providing greater choice and innovation for advertisers, publishers and consumers.
“As stated on May 3rd and reiterated on May 18th Microsoft was not interested in rebidding for all of Yahoo!…. ” — Microsoft press statement, June 12, 2008
Unfortuantely, Carl Icahn probably doesn’t see the same language of love that the rest of us do.
What’s next for the spurned software maker? Perhaps they will invest in Chemistry.com or Match.com. And maybe one of these relationships will lead to a new portal who will see the inner beauty in Microsoft that Yahoo was to blind to see.
See also:
- Fred Destin: Hourly timeline comparing stock price of YHOO/MSFT and yesterday’s announcement.
- SeattlePI.com: The Yahoo/Google deal
- Assoc For Competitive Tech: How This Affects Competition in the online ad sales world
- DailyApps: Analysis of what the Yahoo/Google deal means