6 ms·

Verizon wants $1B off Yahoo sale price

92 points by arman0 10y ago

dandr01d 10y ago
So what are the chances that Verizon is leaking all this stuff itself to get Yahoo for cheap?
- M_Grey 10y ago
  I think it's too damaging to the long-term value of the brand.
  - pcurve 10y ago
    Unless Verizon is having second thoughts about the purchase.
  - ThrustVectoring 10y ago
    If it's getting leaked eventually anyhow, better that it's before the sale is final.
jimmywanger 10y ago
It makes sense. Yahoo's last assets were its fantasy sports league, its email service, maybe Yahoo finance, its brand, and its massive user base. Within the last couple of weeks, they've tarnished both their brand and their email service. I doubt very much that their fantasy leagues and Yahoo finance really bring as much revenue as ads from email and ads targeted to its massive user base. What exactly is Verizon bidding on now?
- mc32 10y ago
  Also Flickr --Flickr is like Y!'s YouTube but with less potential of being massively profitable. I think Y! still tries to figure out how to monetize it more. Unfortunately it's not like they can set-up a bunch of Photography Spaces/Studios and groom star photographers who would bring money in for them --but it has a pretty good (loyal) community.
  - ngokevin 10y ago
    Hmm, they just shut down their Flickr Marketplace.
- nugget 10y ago
  Email is the crown jewel - by far their most lucrative property. Verizon may be waiting to see if there's any measurable user churn due to the recent news, although that takes some time to shake out.
  - jimmywanger 10y ago
    I think you also missed their homepage and useraccounts, which continues to get a huge amount of traffic. Granted, people who use Yahoo´s homepage/homepage probably aren´t the most sophisticated users, but the sheer number of eyeballs probably counts for something. So you have the brand/homepage, which is tarnished by their leak and subsequent refusal to reset passwords (anecdotally, even my mom asked me how to reset her password) and their email is tarnished (although I don't know how much their userbase cares about privacy) by their scanning of emails for the NSA.
alrs 10y ago
This is great news. The only way we will have a chance to start doing things right as an industry is if there are serious consequences for doing things wrong.
- newman314 10y ago
  Maybe I'm just being cynical, but IMO this isn't as much as about "doing the right thing and establishing consequence" as it is an opportunity to get something for cheaper.
  - alrs 10y ago
    You're right, but the leverage to get something cheaper only exists because Yahoo did things so wrong.
  - maverick_iceman 10y ago
    This is how the free market punishes wrongdoings.
    - __derek__ 10y ago
      Yet the beneficiary is one of the worst offenders when it comes to domestic spying.
  - Zigurd 10y ago
    Verizon doesn't have to have the right motivations, just the right results. That's important: When your adversary is unprincipled, the only measure of good or bad is effectiveness.
bjterry 10y ago
A deal team "pushing back hard" is only as good as the next best offer. (But they have to say that of course.)
shmerl 10y ago
Instead of buying AOL and Yahoo, Verizon should have invested in network upgrades.
- astrodust 10y ago
  How's that going to boost the stock price? If you know the answer maybe you should be working for Verizon.
  - shmerl 10y ago
    > How's that going to boost the stock price? It would provide long term benefits, which can translate in better stock price as well. Key word - long term. Most Verizon "investors" can't operate in such terms however, they only see short term or nothing. It's a common mindset of the Wall Street today anyway. That's why Verizon let their networks rot, and doesn't replace them with fiber everywhere. Working for Verizon? No, thanks. Until their whole upper management will be replaced, I doubt they'll improve in major ways.
    - WalterBright 10y ago
      > Most Verizon "investors" can't operate in such terms however, they only see short term or nothing. It's a common mindset of the Wall Street today anyway. That doesn't explain many, many companies with high P/E ratios (such as AMZN). If you know which companies have sacrificed the long term for short term gain, then you'd get rich shorting their stocks.
- Zigurd 10y ago
  That's right, but as others have pointed out, all the network service providers have convinced investors that being an efficient provider of a commodity would be a tragedy. They have talked themselves into a trap. They will find synergy is hard to turn into money if they can find it at all. In 10 years they will start talking about specialization and focus.
  - MatthiasP 10y ago
newscracker 10y ago
In a way, to me it seems like Verizon not buying Yahoo may be good for Yahoo's users. But if that were to happen, who would be the others to come back and attempt to buy it? From past news it seemed like others' interest fizzled out.
rchaud 10y ago
Did Verizon know about the data breach before they agreed to the deal? What were Yahoo's obligations (if any) to disclose these things to a potential buyer? A breach of this scale can't help but take a huge bite out of Yahoo's brand value and user trust.

92 points by arman0 10y ago

dandr01d 10y ago

So what are the chances that Verizon is leaking all this stuff itself to get Yahoo for cheap?

M_Grey 10y ago
I think it's too damaging to the long-term value of the brand.
- pcurve 10y ago
  Unless Verizon is having second thoughts about the purchase.
- ThrustVectoring 10y ago
  If it's getting leaked eventually anyhow, better that it's before the sale is final.

jimmywanger 10y ago

It makes sense. Yahoo's last assets were its fantasy sports league, its email service, maybe Yahoo finance, its brand, and its massive user base. Within the last couple of weeks, they've tarnished both their brand and their email service. I doubt very much that their fantasy leagues and Yahoo finance really bring as much revenue as ads from email and ads targeted to its massive user base. What exactly is Verizon bidding on now?

mc32 10y ago
Also Flickr --Flickr is like Y!'s YouTube but with less potential of being massively profitable. I think Y! still tries to figure out how to monetize it more. Unfortunately it's not like they can set-up a bunch of Photography Spaces/Studios and groom star photographers who would bring money in for them --but it has a pretty good (loyal) community.
- ngokevin 10y ago
  Hmm, they just shut down their Flickr Marketplace.
nugget 10y ago
Email is the crown jewel - by far their most lucrative property. Verizon may be waiting to see if there's any measurable user churn due to the recent news, although that takes some time to shake out.
- jimmywanger 10y ago
  I think you also missed their homepage and useraccounts, which continues to get a huge amount of traffic. Granted, people who use Yahoo´s homepage/homepage probably aren´t the most sophisticated users, but the sheer number of eyeballs probably counts for something. So you have the brand/homepage, which is tarnished by their leak and subsequent refusal to reset passwords (anecdotally, even my mom asked me how to reset her password) and their email is tarnished (although I don't know how much their userbase cares about privacy) by their scanning of emails for the NSA.

alrs 10y ago

This is great news. The only way we will have a chance to start doing things right as an industry is if there are serious consequences for doing things wrong.

newman314 10y ago
Maybe I'm just being cynical, but IMO this isn't as much as about "doing the right thing and establishing consequence" as it is an opportunity to get something for cheaper.
- alrs 10y ago
  You're right, but the leverage to get something cheaper only exists because Yahoo did things so wrong.
- maverick_iceman 10y ago
  This is how the free market punishes wrongdoings.
  - __derek__ 10y ago
    Yet the beneficiary is one of the worst offenders when it comes to domestic spying.
- Zigurd 10y ago
  Verizon doesn't have to have the right motivations, just the right results. That's important: When your adversary is unprincipled, the only measure of good or bad is effectiveness.

bjterry 10y ago

A deal team "pushing back hard" is only as good as the next best offer. (But they have to say that of course.)

shmerl 10y ago

Instead of buying AOL and Yahoo, Verizon should have invested in network upgrades.

astrodust 10y ago
How's that going to boost the stock price? If you know the answer maybe you should be working for Verizon.
- shmerl 10y ago
  > How's that going to boost the stock price? It would provide long term benefits, which can translate in better stock price as well. Key word - long term. Most Verizon "investors" can't operate in such terms however, they only see short term or nothing. It's a common mindset of the Wall Street today anyway. That's why Verizon let their networks rot, and doesn't replace them with fiber everywhere. Working for Verizon? No, thanks. Until their whole upper management will be replaced, I doubt they'll improve in major ways.
  - WalterBright 10y ago
    > Most Verizon "investors" can't operate in such terms however, they only see short term or nothing. It's a common mindset of the Wall Street today anyway. That doesn't explain many, many companies with high P/E ratios (such as AMZN). If you know which companies have sacrificed the long term for short term gain, then you'd get rich shorting their stocks.
Zigurd 10y ago
That's right, but as others have pointed out, all the network service providers have convinced investors that being an efficient provider of a commodity would be a tragedy. They have talked themselves into a trap. They will find synergy is hard to turn into money if they can find it at all. In 10 years they will start talking about specialization and focus.
- MatthiasP 10y ago

newscracker 10y ago

In a way, to me it seems like Verizon not buying Yahoo may be good for Yahoo's users. But if that were to happen, who would be the others to come back and attempt to buy it? From past news it seemed like others' interest fizzled out.

rchaud 10y ago

Did Verizon know about the data breach before they agreed to the deal? What were Yahoo's obligations (if any) to disclose these things to a potential buyer? A breach of this scale can't help but take a huge bite out of Yahoo's brand value and user trust.