Well, that's that! Microsoft has officially pulled its bid for Yahoo! -- inflated for good measure this weekend by another $5 billion -- after the company did "not move toward accepting [the] offer",
asking again for
even more, another $4 bil (totaling $9b more than the
original offer). In a letter from Ballmer to Yang, he states that Microsoft also won't be looking at its option for a
hostile takeover, stating that Yahoo! likely "would take steps that would make [it] undesirable as an acquisition"; Ballmer then goes on to make a few backhanded criticisms of Yahoo's possible new partnerships with Google (which is no surprise). Good night,
Microhoo, the monstrous, hamstrung, lumbering mega-merger that might have been.
Update: Yahoo! makes its
public response here. Yang sums it up: "With the distraction of Microsoft
's unsolicited proposal now behind us, we will be able to focus..." etc. Alright then.
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 4)
IndiaTech @ May 3rd 2008 11:25PM
I still don't get it... Why did Steve "Monkey Boy" Ballmer write such a big letter when a simple "Screw You" would have sufficed?
Harry @ May 3rd 2008 11:44PM
Microsoft - GET BACK TO WORK ON WINDOWS MOBILE
Ethan @ May 3rd 2008 11:56PM
What a bunch of Yahoos.
(sorry).
Jamus @ May 4th 2008 12:11AM
Like a bad case of shower mold, they will be back. If they do, I am guessing it will not be on such "friendly" terms.
luzzio @ May 4th 2008 12:15AM
I've no opinion on whether Microsoft taking over Yahoo would mess things up, but I tend to prefer a larger amount of separate entities providing a service. Less chance of monopolistic practices that way (not that Microsoft hasn't used that to it's advantage before).
I wouldn't want to be the one facing the shareholders in their AGM though...
chigger @ May 4th 2008 12:32AM
I would tend to agree with luzzio. Though MS could benefit from Yahoo's webmail and search engine divisions, I see the real heart of this saga being control of the 'Software as a Service' market. Personally, I'd rather see 3 companies competing for my business (MS, Yahoo, and Google) rather than 2. More competition means more incentive for innovation and better prices.... which is just plain better for the consumer. I hope Yahoo can pull through this.
Ed @ May 4th 2008 12:32AM
Wow, all the backhanded comments in the letters are amazing. I love this part from Yang: "With the distraction of Microsoft's unsolicited proposal now behind us..."
Jason @ May 4th 2008 12:45AM
I am glad cause I hate Microsoft.
Pastry Chef @ May 4th 2008 1:50AM
If you really hate Microsoft, you would be wishing this deal happened.
Bob Frapples @ May 4th 2008 2:59AM
Good point Pastry Chef. I would hate to see Microsoft inevitably rape the few decent applications that Yahoo! has but I was really rooting for them to pull this deal off. It would have been great to see them blow $40m-50m on an overvalued company.
Google is slowly, albeit barely, eating into their real money maker (Office) with Google Docs. Throwing good money after bad with deals like this and hopefully another dud when the next (P)OS comes out would further damage the machine.
Too bad it didn't work out but I'm sure they'll be back in the mix after Yahoo! share price gets beaten up a bit. Even if they do pick them up they will still be Google's bitch in the SE space. Fingers crossed.
Bob Frapples @ May 4th 2008 3:04AM
Doh! That should read $40b-50b.
Spiritusindomit @ May 4th 2008 1:11AM
Filed under: No shit.
Bazooke @ May 4th 2008 1:21AM
Yahoo is going down to the toilet~
Monday is going to be interesting.
RD. @ May 4th 2008 1:41AM
Why would they want Yahoo at all? Shouldn't they put the millions into their MSN product?
Sema Nekeerv @ May 4th 2008 1:48AM
I think that Microsoft should buy yahoo, and then somehow apple will buy google and then we will have world war 3 and the world will explode for no apparent reason.
THE END
Sirius @ May 4th 2008 1:55AM
"Yahoo! makes its pubic response here."
Yahoo! made a pubic response?! You did *NOT* just say that... did you?
Laughing Man @ May 4th 2008 2:16AM
This comment will either be censored or removed. Children under the age of 18 should not read.
Fuck Microsoft. I hate every bit of their underhanded, back stabbing, propaganda, smoke and mirror dealing, no talent shits. There code work is flawed, bulky, buggy mess of stolen ideas, concepts, and badly executed rehashes. We you fuck up, admit it and fix the problem (Vista). Don't look me in my eye and lie to be about how I am over reacting and quote your bullshit, bias figures. Why does no third party company agree with your numbers about Vista adoption and XP downgrades? How the hell did you get an emergency session called to reevaluate Office 2008 new standards after they clearly said your format was bullshit? Why does every game company refuse to port games to Linux based OS's and Apple....until Vista popped up? Why is it only now I can get mainstream game companies making titles available for non-windows OS's? Why does Vista get forced down my throat because DX10 will not be made for XP? Why does Vista have over 20 programs dedicated to tracking the use of my equipment the why I fucking want to use it? Why does the DRM corrupt the shit I legally paid for?
For you blind people out there, Microsoft isn't some friendly company that is out to make your like easy and more connected. They aren't your fucking friends. They hate you and want to control every aspect of your life so they can charge you for living it. If they take over Yahoo, it will be gutted, rehashed into a bullshit copy of Google because Microsoft has not originality. You are probably right about the stock because business people have no souls and will look at this as a missed opportinuity at some quick, easy money, instead of what it really is; a company that is just trying to keep its own identity and do thinks their own way.
I am going back to being one of those deaf mutes now.
gurzanagi @ May 4th 2008 2:50AM
So?
Staticnumeric @ May 4th 2008 2:55AM
I like making up figures and hating blindly too.
The only reason I'm bothering replying to you is your Ghost in the Shell reference.
Laughing Man @ May 4th 2008 3:30AM
I didn't even use figures in my rant. And Blind hate is random and confused. My hate is focused and well thought out.
Ghost in the Shell is awesome so we can at least agree on that, so we are good and thanks for your attempt at input.
Kitreia @ May 4th 2008 7:58AM
Well thought out? All you're doing is shooting out blind hate.
Also, games have been getting ported over to Linux and Mac OS long before Vista emerged. ID Software games (Doom, Quake, etc.) have been releasing games for Linux since the Quake 3 Arena days (that's roughly 7-8 years ago). Also, World of Warcraft for Mac was being worked on before Vista became final, too.
The oh so evil Microsoft even released Halo for Mac before Vista.
Also, DX10 is not necessary, and if you were a real gamer concerned with frames per second you'd just uncheck the box in game so you won't have to deal with the hit DX10 gives (near to every Vista game has the feature to turn off DX10 graphics).
Also, what's this 20 programs to track the use of your equipment? I can't put my finger on this claim. Vista on a clean install was running less programs than XP on a clean install.
And, what DRM? I have over 6,000 music files and I'd be damned if I payed for all of those. I also buy tracks from iTunes, and I can easily remove the Apple DRM from those tracks with the appropriate tools from within Vista without a problem.
If you're talking about the UAC, that is not DRM, it's simply an annoyance (which takes less than 2 minutes to disable and remove the security centre notifications without downloading any software to do so).
Also, I don't understand why people are claiming things out of their rear ends, as if anyone should believe them.
Like it or not, Microsoft is there to do what you claim they don't. They make peoples lives better (keep in mind that most people haven't gotten a BSOD for many years. 'most'). Microsoft certainly has made my computer experience much more pleasurable than Linux or Mac (though that comes down to personal preference).
Also, if you're going to defend Yahoo by saying that Microsoft has a lack of originality, atleast know what the hell you're talking about.
If I remember correctly, Yahoo used to use Google for all their searches (not entirely sure about now, I've no need for Yahoo myself).
I don't call 'that' very original.
Quikboy @ May 4th 2008 12:52PM
You're comment really speak a lot of truth.
Oh wait, no it doesn't. It shows a lot of BS. Let's see how you're oh-so wrong.
1. "their underhanded, back stabbing, propaganda, smoke and mirror dealing, no talent shits" Give me some examples of each, and I (and others) can feel compelled to believe you. But for some reason, I don't see any of these things you claim.
2. "code work is flawed, bulky, buggy mess of stolen ideas, concepts, and badly executed rehashes" You'd have to wonder why people would use this, if it's as bad as you claim. And don't popular ideas get reused by everyone that wants a good winning product?
3. I'm not going to answer all the BS questions you keep asking (since the answer is obvious), but DX10 happens to be a Vista feature, which lays claims as to one of the reasons why people should move to Vista. Every new OS, from Apple or MS will probably have new features the other one didn't. Surprise, surprise. Tell me all these 20 programs that are monitoring you and this DRM that's hurting you so bad, you can't do anything on a Vista-enabled computer. For some reason, I still don't believe this.
4. "Microsoft isn't some friendly company that is out to make your like easy and more connected" - Fact or opinion? Opinion most likely. What other company has a lot of employees that openly blog out their ideas? What other company donates to a lot of causes and organizations? How come nobody has the mass integration of a bazillion things like MS? How come some people can never notice the easy interface of Surface, Media Center, Office 2007, IE7, and a bunch of other products? Maybe you should ask yourself this and answer.
5. "They hate you and want to control every aspect of your life so they can charge you for living it" - Wait, are we now talking about Apple? Last time I checked, Apple loves to constrain and control their users as much as they can, and still make lots of bucks off of it.
6. "will be gutted, rehashed into a bullshit copy of Google because Microsoft has not originality" - So is this another fact that you just somehow miraculously know? I have a different opinion on how combining the best of Y! and WinLive might make a good and strong competitor, but maybe I'm just too optimistic as a person. And just so you know, Google's bought a LOT of companies and has copied a few features from time to time.
7. "company that is just trying to keep its own identity and do thinks their own way" - Yes, or one could view this as a CEO who's stubborn to keep his company (that's falling off in search marketshare, who's services (some) can't compare to what Google and WinLive have had, and just seriously needs a new change) and wants to be greedy by asking MS for a bunch more money to seal the deal. Even though it's far overvalued than it should be. Ever thought about this point of view?
Hate never solves anything. It just makes trouble. Kind of what you're doing.
Laughing Man @ May 4th 2008 2:23PM
You make a valid point about Apple. They definately are more up front about controlling your life. Hell they call their software pack iLife. Games ported to Linux in the past, oh say 5 years ago would be release somewhere in the time frame of 1 to 2 years AFTER original release. Now top rated games are ported within months. DRM is real and evil. You using Apple iTunes is actually a good way to avoid it. The DRM also is not guaranteed to corrupt your legal digital products right off the bat. It may or may not and it may wait to do it later. It just happen to get me on a few times. I will put up though. By the way I am not a Google fanboy either, so that attack was pointless. I could care less what people say about Google. I would post several articles, links, and places you can get research numbers about Vista and the DRM, but it not technically related to this post. I do my research. I do hours and hours of research, including hours of personal, hands on testing of software myself. There is a difference between coping a feature that others use and copy a feature from your competition and claiming it to be something all new that you came up with all on your own. Your are absolutely right, copying happens in software. I mean everybody and their mother uses tabs in browsers now. Yahoo uses tabs in their e-mail client. No one claimed that was really a new feature, just a feature they now support (including Microsoft). But chess as a default installed game, the sidebar desktop thingy, glossy look, graphical task switcher, zoom in on pictures in a folder, easy search within file directories, etc were all features the claimed to be brand new that many uses have been using for YEARS.
**I love my Yahoo! Not all features are great, and they have taken a lot from the non-premium customers, but so has MSN. Microsoft control over Yahoo and all its companies will not be good for Yahoo in my opinion.
This is my last post on this article. I am getting really upset. I would love to give you guys who replied to my comments my email addy, so I could send you the information I read through for your own personal enjoyment, but it is against the rules here. You are perfectly welcome to look it up yourself. Just search for third party software analysis of Vista, Microsoft ISO corruption (IBM and Sun being bared from meeting), hell just try to use the new Office for the first time and try to print, compare Microsoft numbers for Vista adoption to third party numbers, reason behind DX10 being a Vista only feature, etc.
I used Microsoft Office as part of a research experiment and new users (who previously used Microsoft Office) took an average of 9 minutes to find the print option. Innovation is one thing, but some simple features of software should be just that, simple.
Last comment I swear.
Wwhat @ May 4th 2008 3:05PM
Does engadget have an option to change your name from quikboy to slowlongdrawnoutguypretendingtobeaboywhileworkingforMS? Check it out.
Quikboy @ May 5th 2008 1:12AM
@Wwhat : I might as well say does Engadget have an option to change your name from Wwhat to guywhocan'tcomeupwithgoodwittycommentsandprobablyworksforanti-mscompany?
If you can't give a good reply to my original comment, than you shouldn't be talking.
Laughing Man @ May 4th 2008 2:19AM
DAMN YOU LACK OF EDIT BUTTON. DAMN YOU
rTwelve @ May 4th 2008 2:20AM
what, did you say pubic too?
Decoy @ May 4th 2008 8:39PM
Gonna blame Microsoft for it?
Laughing Man @ May 4th 2008 10:40PM
No, actually I blame you.
rheesang2001 @ May 4th 2008 2:50AM
yahoo stock will plummet now that MS made it clear that they have no intention of taking over Y!. too bad for jerry yang and his hopes of getting yahoo on the right track.
Tired_ @ May 4th 2008 2:58AM
I wonder if this will affect Microsoft or Businesswire's PageRank for the word 'pubic'...
musicman @ May 4th 2008 3:27AM
"Update: Yahoo! makes its pubic response here. Yang sums it up: "With the distraction of Microsoft's unsolicited proposal now behind us, we will be able to focus..." etc. Alright then."
Someone misspelled.
lUp @ May 4th 2008 4:45AM
even though that was a lot of money for yahoo, you tend to forget, that microsoft has presented some pretty impressive new technologies that are mostly based on organization and presentation of images.
And Flickr, which is by coincidence part of Yahoo, is the biggest photo site on the web.
This, and the part that they are nearly the last competitor to googles ad-words makes yahoo quite valuable. maybe not 49 billion valuable, but still in the 2 figure range I'd say.
Kavi Agarwal @ May 4th 2008 5:33AM
hahah. PUBIC RESPONSE!!!
imransaddress @ May 4th 2008 8:33AM
yahoo icon's the smiley faces, and shit,, they piss me offf
Intelex @ May 4th 2008 8:56AM
Yahooooo!
First of all this deal made no sense whatsover...I'm a BIG Yahoo Fan, and let's not tend to forget that its STILL BIGGER than google in terms of traffic...MicroBoo is Soft! Can they be more Original...Of coarse the answer is NO! There has to be some legitimacy for the high bid, but I dare say Y! is worth even more than the 53B they were asking for...In the heydays and on a split adjustment for the stock it was 500... Yes check the chart...Yes, Haters...Y! Stock will tank on Monday, and I will be buying$. It will be severely undervalued...as time will tell...As stated before, Y! Had the guts to say NO to MicroBoo! For the record, MicroBoo is fairly good for what they do. Mainly, providing rehashes of their operating system, and office. Hey I use them on my pc, but the Internet is dead for them... Who in the world still uses MSN?? Y! Has built a franchise....The world should be thankful for not seeing the blue screen of death on the Internet .....Yahooooo!!$$
Intelex @ May 4th 2008 9:49AM
Microsoft bids for Yahoo! = $44B
Yahoo! shareholders lost = > $44B
Yahoo maintaining its originality = PRICELESS
Yes, 2 all you HATERS out there and Kitreia, Y! Stock value will tank, but it will rebound. Most of all, Y! has been around for 14 years+... They easily have the best web based email, and still have the most traffic, which makes them #1. Also,Y! Finance is the best out there. Apple, knows this....why do they use them in iphone/touch apps. Google knows
this...why would Eric Schmit call Yang for a partnership....Microsoft knows this...why make a public bid/make bluff deadline/raise its bid, which Balmer said he wouldn't ...threat hostility bluff...etc. The whole world knows this. Microsoft is bloatware. They get an A+ for being original.
Remember Hotmail/windows 3.1/Zune/Xbox.. All are copies, with the exception of the acquistion of Hotmail... What a nightmare to think what would have happened to Y! Mail OMG! The Blue Screen of Death(BSOD)
Hey Microsoft is original afterall!!
Quikboy @ May 4th 2008 12:26PM
I feel the need I should correct some of what you're pulling out of the air.
1. Y! has the most traffic, probably because their services are widely used in Asia. Asia has a humongous population, so one could infer that a lot of Y! traffic comes from there? And some people don't try alternatives sometimes, so you can't know what's the best unless you try something different, which sadly most people don't.
2. Everything from MS is bloatware? Wow, I wonder why so many people bother using this bloatware, when there's other choices. Or maybe it's because not everything from MS is bloatware. Ever thought about that?
3. Hotmail was acquired by Microsoft. Yep. And then you could say that Google copied them with Gmail a lot of years later. Would you say that's true? 3.1 is a copy of something? Personal computers were something so new back then, and it must a copy to provide your own solution, isn't it? I guess if making your own solution is a copy, there must be a zillion out there. Zune is NOT a copy of the iPod. It has a lot of different functionality and you could say every other PMP is a copy, which is NOT true. Xbox is NOT a copy, since it introduced a lot of the more digital enhancements in video consoles when it released, as did the Xbox 360.
4. If you still frequently get BSOD's so much, you're either a technician or somebody who hasn't got a clue with computers.
5. Did anyone ever claim MS was original? I never thought Apple, Google, Yahoo!, and many other tech companies are original, because they often reuse popular ideas and put them in their own solutions. You know, just like MS.
Laughing Man @ May 4th 2008 2:43PM
Google did copy with their email and provided their owe twist to the service. Copy is not the issue. If and when software companies copy, they try to make it different and better. Microsoft just copies, sometimes with less functions.
Bloatware is right. Vista install takes 25 GB's of free space (15 GB can't be accounted for according to computers calculations of free space compared to installed software size). Ubuntu takes 800 MB + cool graphic interface = 1 GB.To keep in with the subject matter Yahoo! messenger uses less memory while in use and space on computer than MSN messenger.
And while those companies have copied some ideas (making them their own style) they have taken the time to create new, innovative ideas. Anyone remember the Y! Drive from like 9 years ago? iPhone, iTunes Store, Google's search algorythm, Microsoft's...........
David @ May 4th 2008 11:03AM
"All right, then."
PacificBlue @ May 4th 2008 1:22PM
I wish Yahoo doesn't join any camps(M$ or Google) and continue as independent.. It has been improving since a year or too.. Its all visible, even the site features, interface is all going very nice.. Long Live..
JR @ May 4th 2008 2:34PM
Look for Yahoo! stock to decline quite a bit over the next few days, shareholder discontent to mount, and another takeover offer from Microsoft which Yahoo! will be forced to accept, or else watch their stock price tumble even further.
From a financial aspect, this takeover makes loads of sense for both companies. Yahoo! is not in a position to sustain the hardcore stance they have taken.
Joe @ May 4th 2008 3:15PM
I sold my Yahoo! stock just in time! Seriously, Friday afternoon about 2 p.m.. Now if I could only time the rest of my stock buys and sells as well.
talluki @ May 4th 2008 4:33PM
to Ryan Block - top marks for the article! Made me smile, also the picture is spot on! Thanks for turning boring IT news into entertainment!!! :)
sean @ May 4th 2008 10:57PM
I hope that Microsoft sends in its Nerd Ninja's and really has a hostile take over
dano @ May 4th 2008 11:51PM
So much hate in the world! See what this capitalism does to you? I even read some goofy hate post saying Microsoft is not your friend! No shit! They are a business. Guess what businesses do? They provide a product to make money from! Last time I checked, my friends weren't trying to profit from me! Microsoft, Yahoo, Apple...whichever company you have a hard-on for is not your friend people, they are here to profit from you. Some of you would truly benefit the world if you put all the time you spent on hating various organizations into something positive.
Ryan @ May 5th 2008 3:43AM
FYI Overseas Yahoo stock currently down 20%... As we proceed towards opening bell tick tock tick tock...
Tim @ May 5th 2008 8:18AM
FUK MS
Iridium @ May 5th 2008 11:37AM
So when did large companies buying each other up until there is only one or two left become a good thing?
Yahoo's rejection of Microsoft is one of the best things to happen in the past 20 years. Maybe more companies will follow in Yahoo's footsteps and realize that they should make decisions based on business and not do what will be a great short term investment for shareholders.
The stock market has nothing to do with making good products and selling them under a good business model. Shareholders can care less how a company makes its money only that it does somehow. If a company fires 30,000 people so that the bottom line looks better to investors then that is a good thing. Buyouts a mergers are looked at as ways to make a quick buck and the shares are sold off and what comes of the merger is pointless.
Now we get internet companies being bought for billions just so the other big guy doesn't get it. Youtube could be the most overvalued property in the history of commerce. There is no way for Youtube to generate any money from the site itself. It is just a billboard for ads that have never proven that they can generate sales beyond other media. 1 million people may watch a Youtube video but maybe 1 person clicked on a sidebar ad on the homepage.
MBS @ May 5th 2008 11:42AM
Best news all week. I have no real love for Yahoo, but they are not nearly as bad as Microsoft. I'm glad there will still be another option out there.
Personally, I think MS was very aware of the real value of yahoo. I don't think they were really interested in buying their assets as much as just getting rid of some competition.