11 ms·
It's now being reported that Verizon and Yahoo are exclusively negotiating. That's as close as anyone has gotten since Microsoft made an offer years ago. Veriz
by chollida1 10y ago
It's now being reported that Verizon and Yahoo are exclusively negotiating. That's as close as anyone has gotten since Microsoft made an offer years ago.
Verizon is really doing a big transition with this acquisition and their AOL acquisition. They've acquired alot of valuable web space to put adds on/monetize. This is a probably good news for Yahoo employee's as Verizon then has a vested interest in keeping the company running and not splitting it up into pieces like a PE firm may be more inclined to do.
The one interesting thing I've heard is that Verizon isn't interested in Yahoo's patent portfolio, which means it could still be up for grabs.
Hopefully its bought by a Microsoft/Google consortium and very liberally cross licensed rather than a private equity firm who will look to more aggressively monetize it.
I also heard that Tim Armstrong, formerly of Google with Mayer will lead the combined AOL/Yahoo company, which means that Mayer probably isn't coming along as part of this deal. I think most people expected this.
If this ends up going through for the reported 3.5 billion, then Verizon has bought a significant portion of traffic on the web for roughly 8 billion (AOL was acquired for 4.4 Billion).
This could end up looking like a very good acquisition in a few years!
- bane 10y agoI think Verizon is very close to realizing they're finally just becoming a utility and desperately want to stay in a higher-level game. But everybody completely ignores Verizon branded initiatives in this area (mostly because the combine being terrible with expensive). Buying existing brands is a much more likely path to success.
- Mahn 10y agoI read this acquisition as trying to take over as much of internet traffic "market share" as possible. Verizon is well into the online advertising game with AOL, so the larger piece of the pie they own the more control they have, and thus the better for them on the long term. It makes sense. The best buyer had to be someone that isn't Google or Facebook but is significantly invested in online advertising.
- exhilaration 10y agoHopefully its bought by a Microsoft/Google consortium and very liberally cross licensed I don't think such a consortium exists, Microsoft and Google are usually on opposite sides. Microsoft (along with Apple/RIM/others) bought the Nortel patents in 2011 and sued Google, Samsung, Huawei, and others. Google bought Motorola and its patents the same year and sued Microsoft. Patents are weaponized as soon as these companies acquire them.
- zamalek 10y agoFar stranger things have happened this year. Although, you're probably right - there will likely be big bucks involved in fighting over it. If a troll acquires those patents it would be dreadful news for everyone involved. I'd honestly rather see Microsoft or Google in charge of them.
- argonaut 10y agoThat patent war was started by Microsoft under Steve Ballmer and both companies dropped it after Satya Nadella took over. I genuinely don't believe Microsoft under Nadella would go to patent war except defensively. Everything I've read about Ballmer leads me to believe he definitely shares similarities to the stereotype of the businessman trying to squeeze out as much money as possible.
- eldavido 10y agoI think it's the sales mentality - you work with the product you have, today, to get the deal done today/this quarter. Not great for the ten-year plan, but those are a luxury of companies with lots of products selling today.
- SoftwareMaven 10y agoAnd, perhaps not surprisingly, Ballmer didn't last much over ten years as CEO and left MS in a very precarious position when he did leave.
- Oletros 10y ago
- jsprogrammer 10y agoWhat interesting patents does Yahoo! hold (or had placed in some troll vehicle)?
- coverband 10y agoNot sure if comprehensive, but here's a list: https://patents.google.com/?assignee=Yahoo!+Inc.,Yahoo!+Inc.%2c+A+Delaware+Corporation,YAHOO%26excl;+INC.,Yahoo!+Inc https://patents.google.com/?assignee=Yahoo!+Inc.,Yahoo!+Inc.... A cursory look offers a bunch of patents related to searching, messaging, databases, information storage/retrieval, etc.
- jsprogrammer 10y agoAh, OK. I think Google might need the "Slideout windows" [0] patent for their web-based Maps product? [0] https://patents.google.com/patent/US7325204B2/en?assignee=Yahoo!+Inc.,Yahoo!+Inc.%2c+A+Delaware+Corporation,YAHOO%26excl;+INC.,Yahoo!+Inc https://patents.google.com/patent/US7325204B2/en?assignee=Ya...
- mtgx 10y agoDoes it not scare anyone else that Verizon gets to be in the ad-tracking/online surveillance business?
- iand 10y agoThey are already in it. Google for verizon supercookie
- Spooky23 10y agoThat train left the station years ago. Verizon Customer Proprietary Network Information Policy: https://www.verizon.com/about/privacy/customer-proprietary-network-information https://www.verizon.com/about/privacy/customer-proprietary-n... With wireless, all of the carriers transparently proxy most traffic and can do a variety of things with it. See: http://www.cs.usc.edu/assets/007/90818.pdf http://www.cs.usc.edu/assets/007/90818.pdf
- riboflava 10y agoThey could be in the marshmallow manufacturing business for all I care, if it's not their core competency they'll suck at it. (There are a lot of third party ad-tracking/online surveillance companies to be more worried about since that's their entire bread and butter.)
- someone7x 10y agoI did a double take when I read Tim Armstrong as the new CEO. I remember reading a scathing in-depth piece on him some time ago. Fired a guy in the middle of a meeting, shamed some employees that had delivery complications with their children. I was surprised he's still around. I suppose the new CEO will be as criticized and unloved as the old one.
- elgabogringo 10y agoTim and Marissa are both characters. I wonder if they are actually any good. After all, how easy would it be to "succeed" at Google 10 years ago? That's why I'm always a little skeptical about hiring leaders from one-trick pony companies. Many come to mind. Intel (x86), VMWare (vSphere), Google (ad words) and the list goes on. It's likely you could be a very incompetent leader at these companies and still show results because the product sells itself &/or has a virtual monopoly for a number of years. I have seen very, very few Intel execs leave and be successful outside of Intel. In fact, I can't think of any. Are we now seeing the same from Google?
- argonaut 10y agoThe elephant in the room: Sheryl Sandberg (VP of sales and ops at Google before FB). John Doerr was also a sales executive at Intel in the late 70s. Also, most executives don't become famous. There are dozens of ex-Google and ex-Intel executives you've never heard of chugging away as executives at other companies, presumably succeeding (because they haven't been fired or demoted). But you've never heard of them because they aren't wildly or prominently successful.
- elgabogringo 10y agoElephant in the room or exception that proves the rule? I would also consider Doerr as starting his career at Intel (back when it didn't have a virtual monopoly) rather than being a senior leader. I think these one-trick ponies are good places to start careers, I just think the market should be more wary when hiring exec leadership (VP to c-level) from them.
- jackgavigan 10y ago> If this ends up going through for the reported 3.5 billion... The article states that "Verizon is discussing a price close to $5 billion for Yahoo’s core internet business..."
- chollida1 10y agoYou are correct. The first version of the article that appeared on the terminal cited 3.5 Billion. Infact the entire article has significantly changed since it was first published:)
- pbreit 10y ago"Verizon has bought a significant portion of traffic on the web for roughly 8 billion" Isn't AOL's traffic a small fraction of Yahoo's?
- alexdumitru 10y agoYeah, there's a huge difference in traffic between the two websites.
- j_koreth 10y agoIts all of AOL including subsidiaries such as the Huffington Post
- zjaffee 10y agoYes, but AOL has a bunch of subsidiaries ranging from Huffington Post to TechCrunch.
- pbreit 10y agoI was including them.
- vram22 10y ago>If this ends up going through for the reported 3.5 billion If that number is right and it happens, it will be less than a tenth of what MS offered for Yahoo earlier - IIRC it was ~44B.
- cscurmudgeon 10y agoThat was for Yahoo core + Alibaba + Yahoo Japan + IP + land etc.
- vram22 10y agoOkay, didn't know/remember that. The MS offer was some years ago. Then, right, the two are not comparable.
- macspoofing 10y ago>This is a probably good news for Yahoo employee's as Verizon Good news for Yahoo shareholders. I have no faith that Verizon will turn Yahoo around. I'm not sure it's good news for employees. You're bringing in Verizon corporate culture into a Silicon Valley company - have fun.
- Macha 10y agoVerizon's been pretty hands off with AOL in that regard, though that could change if Verizon gets more involved in trying to merge Yahoo and AOL obviously.