YAHOO FROM PAGE 10 Operative, co-founded board of Yahoo not [want-
its shareholders and regulators in the and helped build the ing] a deal and Google
United States and abroad will bless the aQuantive ad network, being willing to disrupt
deal. w h o s e p u r c h a s e b y the deal, there [are] a lot
Yahoo, which has struggled finan- Microsoft last year can be of possibilities there.”
cially in recent quarters and rebuffed seen as a steppingstone That opposition aside,
overtures from Microsoft this time to the Yahoo deal. Forrester’s Li summed
last year, has been quietsince promis- Leo said he likes the up the logistical chal-
ing Feb. 2 to “evaluate this proposal potential synergies be- lenges in her blog:
carefully and promptly.” The board tween Yahoo’sRightMedia “Cultural differences,
reportedly was meeting Feb. 8 to dis- online ad exchange assets Drummond said the deal geographic distances,
cuss the offer, although no decision and Microsoft’s aQuantive “raises troubling questions.” and different technol-
had been announced by press time. Atlas ad-serving capabili- ogy platforms will also
Earlier in the week, Google CEO ties. However, opposition by officials muck up things, making a merger
Eric Schmidt reportedly reached out from both Yahoo and Google will make highly distracting to an organization
to Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang for support it difficult for Microsoft to close the that needs to be focused on a highly
and some sort of alliance between deal, he said. competitive marketplace.”
the two companies. “Google is highly motivated and Another wild card is whether
Some in the industry said the deal will pay money to make the deal not U.S. and European regulators would
would be bad for businesses, despite doable,” Leo said. “Between having the approve the deal. Some analysts point
bringing Microsoft closer to the hard road Google
to competing with Google. has had to walk in its bid
James Bilefield, CEO of inter- for DoubleClick as a cau-
national ad server Openads, tionary tale—the Federal
who worked for Yahoo from Trade Commission has
1999 to 2004 as managing approved that deal, but
director of consumer and Microsoft courts Yahoo the European Commis-
network services, said the The software company’s bid to buy the search company set off a sion has not yet made a
deal would hurt his business firestorm around the industry. Here’s what’s happened so far: decision. However, oth-
because it would mean one Jan. 31 ers suggest that regulators
less place his publishers could Microsoft’s Ballmer sends a letter to Yahoo’s board of directors may see the merger as giv-
get ads for their inventory. outlining the $44.6 billion offer ing the industry a strong
Openads, which works Feb. 1 No. 2 rival to Google in
with more than 30,000 small Microsoft publicly announces its intention to buy Yahoo search and advertising.
and midsize publishers in The European Union declines to comment on the proposal, “Antitrust laws are a
more than 100 countries, though experts say Microsoft’s difficult past with regulators there concern with any deal of
offers an open-source alter- could lead to increased scrutiny should a deal be made this size,” Gartner’s Frank
native to DoubleClick, which Sources say News Corp. has no interest in buying Yahoo said. “While the current
Google is trying to acquire Feb. 2 U.S. administration is less
for $3.1 billion. In a Web site posting, Yahoo officials say they will take their time likely to pose a problem, in
“Some of these companies weighing the Microsoft offer and that they are open to other bids recent years the European
are too small to have their Union has aggressively
House Judiciary Committee panel sets a Feb. 8 hearing date on
own sales teams directly, so the proposal policed similar mergers.”
they rely on the big ad net- Congresshasalsostepped
works—Google, Yahoo and Feb. 3 into the ring with a House
Microsoft—to provide them Google lashes out at the proposed deal, saying Microsoft is Judiciary Committee panel
trying to dominate the Web mail and IM markets
with ad dollars,” Bilefield scheduling a hearing for
told e Week. “One less player Sources close to Yahoo say the company may consider an Feb. 8. However, the hear-
in the market is unlikely to alliance with Google to rebuff Microsoft bid ing was canceled. ´
be healthy.” Feb. 4
Mike Leo, CEO of digital ad Ballmer makes pitch for the acquisition to financial analysts Senior Editor Peter Galli
workflow software provider Source: e WEEK reporting, Reuters contributed to this report.
