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May 8, 2008, 11:23 am

Google-Yahoo deal faces resistance

By Yi-Wyn Yen

Google may be getting cold feet. In a last-ditch effort to avoid a merger with Microsoft, Yahoo said it was considering teaming with Google in a search advertising deal. But some Google executives are now questioning whether that’s a good idea, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

One major hurdle: A Google-Yahoo tieup could face tough scrutiny from regulators in Washington and the European Union. Last month Yahoo (YHOO) ran a two-week test displaying some of Google’s (GOOG) search ads on Yahoo’s homepage. Both Yahoo and Google executives said the experiment went well. The two are reportedly in talks to outsource Google’s search technology in a non-exclusive arrangement.

Spokespeople from both Google and Yahoo declined to comment.

Google may have wedged its way into the mix in order to break up Microsoft (MSFT) and Yahoo. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer admitted that Google was a factor when the software giant walked away from its $47.5 billion offer last Saturday. In a letter to Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, Ballmer said his company would not be willing to deal with the “host of regulatory and legal problems” that it would inevitably inherit if Yahoo partnered with Google.

Last month Microsoft’s general counsel Brad Smith lashed out at the two big Internet sites for partnering even in a limited test. He argued that a Google-Yahoo combo would give Google a 90% share of online search advertising and that “this would make the market far less competitive. It would be fair to say that Microsoft would aggressively lobby against a long-term partnership between Google and Yahoo.

Microsoft was one of Google’s biggest detractors when the search giant said it was going to buy DoubleClick, the top firm in online display advertising. Google got approval from both the Federal Trade Commission and the European Committee to acquire DoubleClick, but the approval took the big G nearly a whole year.

Both the FTC and the European Committee ruled that text-based search advertising and display advertising, which is the preferred way that big brands like to advertise, are two different markets, and therefore the merger was not anticompetitive. But regulators may be more wary if the two biggest players in search want to team up.

“Google has incredible chutzpa,” said Jeffrey Chester, the executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy. The public interest group had opposed Google’s DoubleClick deal because it would give Google an overwhelming lead in online advertising.

Chester said both Microsoft and Google have approached him to support their political message on the Hill. He has not yet endorsed either party, and is waiting for a deal – whether it’s Microsoft and Yahoo or Google and Yahoo – to be announced.

However, Chester said he is wary of a Google-Yahoo tieup. “Whatever happens, we don’t want Google to operate Yahoo out of its back pocket,” Chester said. “Whether or not regulators do something about it, we’ll do something.”

“When “moderation” of posts gets to the stage of “censorship” of posts, it’s then time to “move on”, I guess?”

BRAVO !!!

They are “back” again ….

Well done ….

Posted By Ross Brisbane Australia : May 9, 2008 7:17 pm

90% of the online brainwashing market. Pure Evil. Pure Greed.

If you look at the sorry state of our economy, our corporations, our government, our environment, and so on, ad naseum…you’d realize all these barriers to mergers, monopolies, and trade that the Clinton administration had dismantled (continued by Bush) were put in place to protect us, the US citizens. Removing these barriers was meant to remove these protections of US citizens and foster globalism.

The printing of 100s of trillions of our dollars to use to borrow from China, India, Japan, and other countries was done with the sole intent to devalue our labour, our land, our technology, and ultimately our lives.

Again, Clinton & the business-political Axis of Evil did these things to effectively make us even poorer and more powerless then poorest of the billions of sustenance farmers. At least she has a tiny bit of land that she can scratch some food out of. What the hell can you scratch out of your parking lot? Flattened dogs & cats?

Now we are all on even lesser footing then the billions of people worldwide who never had any protection whatsoever. But then those are the perils of birth and life in the Nanny State whose teats we’ve all been suckling on for far too long.

Think about it. In 1992 if you’d see people like there are on these boards rah’rahing and drawing up sides: Apple vs MS, MS vs Google, Google vs Yahoo, Walmart vs Target people’d rightly think you were insane. They’d be right.

Obama. Hillary. McCain. It matters not who you vote for. They are all control-freak agents of Evil. You’ve let it go too far now.

You only hope is your …

Posted By Dreamdeceiver, Silcone Valley : May 8, 2008 9:55 pm

When “moderation” of posts gets to the stage of “censorship” of posts, it’s then time to “move on”, I guess?

How sad. Land of the FREE? (To speak your mind?)

:)

Posted By Ross Brisbane Australia. : May 8, 2008 8:07 pm

Oh, and DotCom Mogal …

“Have you seen the erosion of traditional media? Yes, you say? Just wait…the worst of it is yet to come.”

There is no argument there, other than the ongoing phenomenon of Rupert Murdoch and Newscorp buying up all these “traditional media” brands, with The WSJ and now ‘newsday.com’, being the latest … Ever wonder why? (They, NWS now own over 70% of ALL print media in Australia)

Yes. The ‘day to day’ print media publishers will no longer be (no more in “print”), in the not to distant future …(You’d agree?……Few will remain, in the “hard copy” format, as we know it).

They’ll ALL be on the web …. The very same “Brands” …..

But where will the advertisers go to, I wonder? (You have asked the same question)

Along-side ONLINE publisher content, of course. Brands.

And how much (more) will they (advertisers) need to pay then, to get that “favourite” spot that they have been so accustomed to?

They are only getting a “taste” at this stage ………. Soon, they’ll be having to really “pay” for it!!

It’s probably called …Creating “new” habits …….But only an opinion.

Posted By Ross Brisbane Australia : May 8, 2008 8:02 pm

Hi DotCom Mogul …

“Adsense & Adwords will generate Google north of $100 billion in annual year after 2012.”

I guess that’s why Google have found the need to quickly come up with it’s own, Ad Manager?

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/openx_vs_google_ad_manager.php

AdSence? – Cough, splutter.. #* h elp..

You may need to do some more research, possibly?

Google will be “losing it” in more ways than one, let me assure you of that. But, ONLY an opinion, of course.

Posted By Ross – Brisbane Australia : May 8, 2008 7:45 pm

Of course the deal meets resistance. GOOG doesn’t like competition. YHOO is crazy for not accepting $47 billion from MSFT. They only said no because they thought the GOOG deal would hold up. If I was a shareholder or YHOO exec., I would be really mad.

Watch YHOO get no better over the next 2 quarters before being bought out. Either way, they are going under or under the umbrella of someone else.

Posted By AZDallas, Dallas, TX : May 8, 2008 6:12 pm

So, according to Mr. Brad Smith 90% share of online advertising “would make the market far less competitive”. Would he care to address Microsoft’s 90%+ share of operating system market?

Posted By KD, Madison AL : May 8, 2008 4:03 pm

Adsnese is on the way our? Have you lost your mind? Print advertising followed by Radio and Television are on their way out.

Adsense & Adwords will generate Google north of $100 billion in annual year after 2012.

This is just the beginning my friend.

Have you seen the erosion of traditional media? Yes, you say? Just wait…the worst of yet to come.

It will have a bigger implosion than the small housing and credit chrisis we’re coasting through at the moment.

DotCom Mogul

Posted By LaGrange, IL : May 8, 2008 12:49 pm

If YHOO and GOOG got together, they’d probably be slapped on the Hill by MSFT lawyers for being a monopoly. MSFT is not done with the internet search giants yet in my opinion.

Posted By Michael Brown, Baltimore, MD : May 8, 2008 12:44 pm

“The two are reportedly in talks to outsource Google’s search technology in a non-exclusive arrangement”

Microsoft are being rather foolish, IMHO.

They should let it go ahead and hope it’s a similar deal as the AOL & FIM were reported to be (80% revs split?) and then see GOOG get to be “tied down” with such exorbitant TAC ….

AdSense is on the way out, and the dogs are barking it …. MSN should be “backing” the more ‘fairer’ auction based Ads/Pubs OPEN Exchange way of doing things. What fools they are, IMO.

Posted By Ross – Brisbane Australia : May 8, 2008 12:21 pm
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