Microsoft steps back from Yahoo bid

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 37
    satchmosatchmo Posts: 2,699member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Delfoniq View Post


    On a serious note I don't think the Google monopoly is good news for anyone in the long term.



    No it isn't. But there are better ways at tackling this than buying up Yahoo. Microsoft has got to focus on something...and not just react to the latest trends. And whatever that is, do it well. They've become a laughing stock..a dinosaur so to speak.



    Yes, they're still rich and powerful, but I'd like to see where they are 5 years from now. It's a fast downward spiral in the tech world.
  • Reply 22 of 37
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Delfoniq View Post


    I don't see how the whole thing broke down over just a petty $4 per share. On a serious note I don't think the Google monopoly is good news for anyone in the long term.



    <Wakes up with a frozen Gmail account>



    Is there really a Google monopoly, or are you saying there is a Google monopoly because you think it is one?
  • Reply 23 of 37
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by satchmo View Post


    No it isn't. But there are better ways at tackling this than buying up Yahoo. Microsoft has got to focus on something...and not just react to the latest trends.



    Does anyone have any ideas on how MS could use it's funds to compete better with Google?



    Quote:

    Yes, they're still rich and powerful, but I'd like to see where they are 5 years from now. It's a fast downward spiral in the tech world.



    In five years I see MS having quite a bit more money than they do now. in 2007 they generated $51 Billion with a Net income of $14 Billion (27%).



    They will lose a little more of the desktop marketshare to OS X and Linux, and lose a higher percentage of the browser marketshare to FF and Safari, but all that is merely plucking a couple strands of hair on a giant. The EU ruling against MS in 2007 hurt them far more deeply than the loss of desktop browser marketshare has. They aren't going anywhere anytime soon.
  • Reply 24 of 37
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    Does anyone have any ideas on how MS could use it's funds to compete better with Google?



    Google is betting the world is going to settle on a lightweight client model, with the apps and documents in the cloud. I think they're wrong - the documents will migrate to the cloud, ala iDisk, but the apps will stay where they are (except for very simple widgety type things). So MS is in the stronger long term position. What they need to invest in is a very fast, very high capacity free iDisk type thing.
  • Reply 25 of 37
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Delfoniq View Post


    I don't see how the whole thing broke down over just a petty $4 per share.



    Each dollar per share adds a billion dollars to the sale price.
  • Reply 26 of 37
    mactelmactel Posts: 1,275member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bdkennedy1 View Post


    Hmmmm... maybe it has to do with Yahoo employees quitting over it. Or at least that's what my friends that work there called to tell me today. Oooops. Did I say that?



    It was premature to quit before the deal was done.



    Maybe Microsoft will take its offer and buy up Facebook instead.
  • Reply 27 of 37
    lesterlester Posts: 2member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post


    Bankrupcy? Maybe you should stop reading the FUD. Yahoo is in the black.



    It is easy to get a company into the black when you downsize through a hiring freeze and a reduction in R&D. But hey, how many shareholders care about tomorrow.
  • Reply 28 of 37
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Lester View Post


    But hey, how many shareholders care about tomorrow.



    All that will be holding shares tomorrow.
  • Reply 29 of 37
    delfoniqdelfoniq Posts: 95member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post


    Is there really a Google monopoly, or are you saying there is a Google monopoly because you think it is one?



    Of course there is a monopoly, the numbers speak for themselves.



    I agree with you though. Google is not always the fastest or most complete and relevant search, but the fact is that most people are mentally convinced that it is. Maybe because we're all creatures of habit, and we all use Google despite the fact that there are similar or even better search engines out there.
  • Reply 30 of 37
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Lester View Post


    It is easy to get a company into the black when you downsize through a hiring freeze and a reduction in R&D. But hey, how many shareholders care about tomorrow.



    Every single quarter since II/02 has been profitable. Revenues have grown from 225.8 million to 1.817 billion since. But yeah, surely that's just "through a hiring freeze and a reduction and R&D".
  • Reply 31 of 37
    diskimagediskimage Posts: 89member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Delfoniq View Post


    I agree with you though. Google is not always the fastest or most complete and relevant search, but the fact is that most people are mentally convinced that it is. Maybe because we're all creatures of habit, and we all use Google despite the fact that there are similar or even better search engines out there.



    What are these other better search engines? I am not a search engine expert but the best one I have used so far is google.

    Windows live search is terrible.
  • Reply 32 of 37
    slewisslewis Posts: 2,081member
    Null.
  • Reply 33 of 37
    winterspanwinterspan Posts: 605member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Delfoniq View Post


    Of course there is a monopoly, the numbers speak for themselves.



    I agree with you though. Google is not always the fastest or most complete and relevant search, but the fact is that most people are mentally convinced that it is. Maybe because we're all creatures of habit, and we all use Google despite the fact that there are similar or even better search engines out there.



    You have a good point. Though at times, they have had the most relevant results, they've really been hit by the search engine spammers recently. I have jumped over to Yahoo and Ask once in a while, but I keep returning to Google. I think part of it is habit, part of it is avoiding all the nonsense on yahoo/ask/MSN, and the last part is that I religiously use Google's other services, such as Gmail - Maps - Reader - Analytics
  • Reply 34 of 37
    stubeckstubeck Posts: 140member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Walter Slocombe View Post


    I think this only strengthens Yahoo, they actually said NO to M$



    I like the reaction given by Yahoos Roy Bostock who dismissed the unsolicited bid as a "distraction"



    M$ ARE a distraction as a company as windows is as an operating system.



    Huh? He said it was a distraction because he didn't want to sell the company. Saying no to Microsoft doesn't strengthen them at all.



    BTW, your analogy makes no sense at all.
  • Reply 35 of 37
    Not to overthink things here... but Microsoft "backing away from the deal" is part of the acquisition negotiations. Yahoo's board is playing hard-to-get, and if Microsoft pushed too hard (hostile bid) they'd only succeed in:

    1) Driving up Yahoo's price even further

    2) Losing the best Yahoo employees (aka, "the whole point of the deal") to other companies (Google)

    3) Sour the milk for all the remaining employees, and bring lots of gov't scrutiny on the deal when Yahoo execs cry for help.



    Instead, Microsoft is doing the, "fine, then be that way; there are prettier women in this bar," routine. Yahoo's share price will drop this week, Yahoo execs will realize that their situation isn't tenable long-term, and they'll quietly start negotiating with Microsoft. Microsoft will get Yahoo at a cheaper price and with less animosity than if they'd continued with this full-frontal assault. ...or, at least, this is what Ballmer hopes will happen...
  • Reply 36 of 37
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post


    Maybe it's not just about the money. As a percentage increase, how much money more money would you want over what you already earn, to be Balmer's personal butler?



    I plan on taking part in any number of class-action lawsuits against Yang and company, since they clearly cannot offer shareholders value any more. They need to be fired for not coming to an agreement that made sense. They should have agreed on $34 or $35.
  • Reply 37 of 37
    minderbinderminderbinder Posts: 1,703member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Delfoniq View Post


    Of course there is a monopoly, the numbers speak for themselves.



    I agree with you though. Google is not always the fastest or most complete and relevant search, but the fact is that most people are mentally convinced that it is. Maybe because we're all creatures of habit, and we all use Google despite the fact that there are similar or even better search engines out there.



    So what is the best search engine these days?
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