Microsoft wants to get Yahoo! back to the table and talk, reports the New York Post on Friday.
Microsoft is feeling the heat from Google and needs to act. Not only did Google secure a new search advertising deal with AOL two years ago that was on Microsoft’s radar, but Microsoft is still smarting from losing out to Google on the DoubleClick deal recently.
Furthermore, Google is also stomping all over Microsoft’s traditional territory by developing internet based software in direct competition with Microsoft’s flagship Office suite. “The minute you hear Microsoft start arguing against something on antitrust grounds, you know they are desperate and need to do something big,” one source is quoted in the article as saying.
So it has brought a new sense of urgency to proceedings. Sources quoted in the piece say that Microsoft and Yahoo had informal discussions over the years and several months ago Microsoft made Yahoo an offer. Yahoo turned down Microsoft’s $50bn!
Microsoft is believed to have tapped Goldman Sachs for the most recent approach.
