Microsoft bid Google Sweats Yahoo Mulls

Update on the Microsoft Bid: Google Sweats, Yahoo Mulls

It's taken a couple days to digest the news, but Google finally coughed up a response to Microsoft's unsolicited $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo. And from the sound of it, Google execs are truly terrified.

"Microsoft's hostile bid for Yahoo raises troubling questions," David Drummond, senior vice president, corporate development and chief legal officer, wrote in an official blog post. "This is about more than simply a financial transaction, one company taking over another. It's about preserving the underlying principles of the Internet: openness and innovation. . . Could Microsoft now attempt to exert the same sort of inappropriate and illegal influence over the Internet that it did with the PC?"

Yahoo, meanwhile, has indicated it's going to take its sweet time reviewing the bid.

"The Yahoo! Board is undertaking a deliberate review process," a corporate FAQ said. "They’re going to take time to thoroughly evaluate the proposal in the context of Yahoo!'s strategic plans. This will include evaluating all of the Company’s strategic alternatives -- including maintaining Yahoo as an independent company. That process will take some time, but the Board will ultimately pursue the option that it believes can best maximize value for our shareholders . . . A review process like this is fluid, and it can take quite a bit of time."

We're sure Yahoo employees are fine with a long review period, especially since all this speculation has done wonders for the stock.

Source: http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/02/update-on-the-m.html

Future of Internet and Yahoo

Future of Internet and Yahoo | Yahoo! and the future of the Internet

The openness of the Internet is what made Google -- and Yahoo! -- possible. A good idea that users find useful spreads quickly. Businesses can be created around the idea. Users benefit from constant innovation. It's what makes the Internet such an exciting place.

So Microsoft's hostile bid for Yahoo! raises troubling questions. This is about more than simply a financial transaction, one company taking over another. It's about preserving the underlying principles of the Internet: openness and innovation.

Could Microsoft now attempt to exert the same sort of inappropriate and illegal influence over the Internet that it did with the PC? While the Internet rewards competitive innovation, Microsoft has frequently sought to establish proprietary monopolies -- and then leverage its dominance into new, adjacent markets.

Could the acquisition of Yahoo! allow Microsoft -- despite its legacy of serious legal and regulatory offenses -- to extend unfair practices from browsers and operating systems to the Internet? In addition, Microsoft plus Yahoo! equals an overwhelming share of instant messaging and web email accounts. And between them, the two companies operate the two most heavily trafficked portals on the Internet. Could a combination of the two take advantage of a PC software monopoly to unfairly limit the ability of consumers to freely access competitors' email, IM, and web-based services? Policymakers around the world need to ask these questions -- and consumers deserve satisfying answers.

This hostile bid was announced on Friday, so there is plenty of time for these questions to be thoroughly addressed. We take Internet openness, choice and innovation seriously. They are the core of our culture. We believe that the interests of Internet users come first -- and should come first -- as the merits of this proposed acquisition are examined and alternatives explored.

Source:

Yahoo! and the future of the Internet

Microsoft Bid for Yahoo online advertising

Q&A: Microsoft's Bid for Yahoo

Microsoft Corp. has made an unsolicited bid to buy Yahoo Inc. for $44.6 billion. Yahoo has said it will consider the offer, which would unite two companies looking to increase their Internet search traffic and advertising revenues in the shadow of Google Inc.'s dominance.

If approved, the deal would be Microsoft's largest ever. The move raises questions about what's at stake for Yahoo, as well as Microsoft, and what government hurdles may have to be cleared.

What does Microsoft stand to gain in this deal?

Microsoft would be paying a lot of money, $44.6 billion, but the company has been eager to improve its position among search engines and compete with Google, the undisputed leader in online search. A combined Yahoo and Microsoft would have about a third of the U.S. search audience, which would still trail well behind Google's nearly 60 percent, according to data from comScore, which measures the market.

Microsoft also would like to get a bigger share of the online advertising market, which the company estimated at $40 billion last year and expects to grow. Yahoo's themed search areas, like finance and sports, draw the eyes of customers who visit the site for its free e-mail and instant-messaging programs and could offer greater opportunities for advertising. Microsoft also could use its sizable pocketbook and software power to entice more ads to the merged company.

What's in it for Yahoo?

Financial stability. In the last year, Yahoo's finances have deteriorated. Earlier this week, the company announced a 23 percent drop in quarterly profits, then said it would cut some 1,000 jobs — about 7 percent of its workforce. The company has also given a cautious outlook for 2008. For shareholders, Microsoft's offer of $31 per share — 62 percent more than what Yahoo's stock was worth when the market closed Thursday — has to be attractive.

Yahoo also would gain access to Microsoft's extensive computing power and data capacity, which might make it possible to offer software like Microsoft's Office suite over the Internet.

This isn't the first time Microsoft has made an offer. What happened last time?

Microsoft and Yahoo have talked about a possible deal since 2006, and the software giant made a similar offer last year. Former Yahoo CEO Terry Semel rejected that deal, but Semel resigned from Yahoo's board on Thursday. As Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer said in a letter sent to Yahoo's board shortly after Semel's departure, "A year has gone by, and the competitive situation has not improved."

Could government regulations stand in the way of a deal?

The Justice Department has said it would be interested in looking into the potential takeover to see if it would violate any antitrust regulations. But the bigger hurdle could be overseas. The European Union, which could play a role in approving the deal, has shown concern about Microsoft's dominance in the software market. In October, Microsoft ended a lengthy legal battle with European regulators in an antitrust case that cost the company millions of dollars in fines.

Are there other possible bidders?

While a surprise bid from another quarter is always possible, any company would find it difficult to compete with Microsoft's vast resources.

Written by Erica Ryan, with reporting by Uri Berliner.

Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18615517&ft=1&f=1003

Microsoft Bids Yahoo Targets Google

Microsoft Bids $44.6B for Yahoo; Targets Google

The rumors are reality. On Friday, Microsoft revealed it has made a $44.6 billion offer for Yahoo. Microsoft's offer equals $31 a share, a 62 percent premium to Yahoo's closing stock price on Thursday, with half cash and half Microsoft common stock.

The acquisition would be Microsoft's largest, would offer relief to Yahoo shareholders who have watched the search-engine giant's stock struggle, and would give Google a fierce competitor for advertising. Yahoo officials could not immediately be reached for comment on the offer, which came in the form of a letter to Yahoo's board of directors.

"We have great respect for Yahoo, and together we can offer an increasingly exciting set of solutions for consumers, publishers and advertisers while becoming better positioned to compete in the online services market," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said. "We believe our combination will deliver superior value to our respective shareholders and better choice and innovation to our customers and industry partners."

The Advertising Game

The online advertising market is growing fast, from more than $40 billion in 2007 to nearly $80 billion projected by 2010. Today this market is increasingly dominated by one player: Google.

"The combination of these two great teams would enable us to jointly deliver a broad range of new experiences to our customers that neither of us would have achieved on our own," said Ray Ozzie, chief software architect at Microsoft. This combination has been rumored for some time, and Microsoft talked with Yahoo last year about alliances or a merger. But Yahoo declined to be acquired. This year, the response may be different.

As Microsoft sees it, the merger would create a more efficient company with synergies in four areas: scale economics driven by audience size and increased value for advertisers; combined engineering talent to accelerate innovation; operational efficiencies by eliminating redundant costs; and innovation in emerging user experiences such as video and mobile. Microsoft believes these four areas could be worth at least $1 billion a year.

"The combined assets and strong services focus of these two companies will enable us to achieve scale economics while reaching R&D critical mass to deliver innovation breakthroughs," said Kevin Johnson, president of the Platforms & Services Division of Microsoft. "The industry will be well served by having more than one strong player, offering more value and real choice to advertisers, publishers and consumers."

A Brand New Yahoo

Yahoo's stock jumped nearly 60 percent in pre-market trading Friday morning, reflecting investors' positive reaction to the proposed acquisition. Even though Yahoo's stock has been battered in recent quarters, Microsoft's offer is a statement of the Internet brand's inherent value, according to Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence.

"Yahoo is still one of the largest sites on the Internet and Microsoft is recognizing that acquiring the company would accelerate its Internet business in a way that it could not do on its own without this acquisition," Sterling said, noting that Microsoft's offer could flush out other bidders, including Google, AT&T or News Corp.

Even if Yahoo declines Microsoft's offer, Sterling said, Yahoo is not going to be the same company after today.

"A process has started that will change the company forever," Sterling noted. "We're either going to see a Microsoft acquisition, an acquisition by some other company, or a strategic relationship that Yahoo enters into. But we won't see the exact same Yahoo going forward that we saw yesterday."

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20080201/bs_nf/58149;_ylt=A9G_R21KtqhHCG0BLht4PDQD

Technology Online

Technology Online

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Online technology degrees are popular because Technology specializations and career opportunities are continuously expanding.

Online learning with rich, interactive media is the ideal "classroom" for all aspects of IT.

Technology platforms, standards and best-practices change quickly, and online course materials are continuously updated

Courses available in technology and information technology

Computer information systems degree: A CIS degree prepares you for entry positions within the IT field. Those already working in a junior position can also benefit from a Computer Information Systems degree, as this can lead to an increased chance of promotion.

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Third undersea cable cut in Middle East

Dubai, Feb 02: A third undersea cable was cut on Friday, just two days after two breaks near Egypt disrupted web access in parts of the Middle East and Asia, Indian-owned cable network operator FLAG Telecom said.


Egypt lost more than half its Internet capacity because of Wednesday's breaks and intends to seek compensation, its Ministry of Communications said in a news release.


India's booming outsourcing industry, which provides a range of back-office services, like insurance claims processing and customer support to overseas clients over the Internet, played down Wednesday's disruption, saying they had used back-up plans.


FLAG, a wholly-owned subsidiary of India's number two mobile operator Reliance Communications, said on its website on Friday its FALCON cable had been reported cut at 05:59 GMT, 56 kms (35 miles) from Dubai, between the United Arab Emirates and Oman.


Egyptian telecom authorities said about 55% of the country's Internet capacity had been restored by Friday, thanks to rerouting of traffic.

Egypt is to ask FLAG and SEA-ME-WE to compensate its Internet and call centre companies.

The Communications Minister, Tarek Kamel, has also decided to make Egypt's Internet Service Providers and Telecom Egypt compensate all their Internet subscribers by providing them with a month's subscription free of charge.

The International Cable Protection Committee, an association of 86 submarine cable operators dedicated to safeguarding undersea cables, has declined to speculate on the cause of the breaches, saying investigations were underway.

It said more than 95% of transoceanic telecoms and data traffic are carried by undersea, the rest by satellite.

Repairs

"The repair ship has been notified and expected to arrive at the (Dubai) site in (the) next few days," FLAG said.

The Internet Service Providers' Association of India said cable repair ships had already been sent to fix the breaches off northern Egypt, which are in segments of two intercontinental cables known as SEA-ME-WE-4 and FLAG Europe-Asia.

FLAG said these repairs should start by Feb 5 and be complete after one week.

Rajesh Chharia, President of the Internet Service Providers' Association, said all of FLAG's traffic had now been shifted to the SEA-ME-WE-3 cable network.


FLAG's rival, Indian Internet service provider Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL), said the majority of its Internet services to the Middle East and North Africa had been restored within 24 hours, as had services to India.

VSNL said in a statement it had used the SEA-ME-WE-3, SEA-WE-ME-4 eastbound and TIC cable to reroute customer traffic.

US phone companies Verizon Communications Inc and AT&T Inc both use the cables which were affected on Wednesday. AT&T said on Thursday its networks were already back to normal as it had rerouted traffic and Verizon expected service to be restored for all its customers within days.

One of the biggest disruptions of modern telecoms systems was in December 2006, when a magnitude 7.1 earthquake broke nine submarine cables between Taiwan and the Philippines, cutting connections between southeast Asia and the rest of the world.

Internet links were thrown out in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines, disrupting the activities of banks, airlines and all kinds of email users.

Traffic was rerouted through other cables, but it took 49 days to restore full capacity.

Bureau Report

source: http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=421962&sid=ENV&ssid=29