Silicon Valley Rumor: Microsoft to Buy Yahoo Search and Then Facebook May 19, 2008
Posted by John Furrier in Technology.Tags: facebook, microsoft, yahoo
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My sources say that the Yahoo and Microsoft teams are bunkered down in a Palo Alto hotel hammering out the final stages of a transaction that will have Microsoft picking up the Yahoo search business. Word is that this deal will be done this week. While this is not surprising, it does bring to question the motives and plans of Microsoft.
Techmeme is buzzing about the latest Microsoft Yahoo talks that has Microsoft buying the Yahoo Search business only. Here is Microsoft’s and Yahoo official statements.
Why would such a complicated transaction (just Yahoo search with all the headaches and all) be in the cards for Microsoft? After the failed bid for $40 plus billion for all of Yahoo, Microsoft’s intentions are clear. Buy the search business from Yahoo and take that team and go spend at least 20 billion for Facebook. Integrating the search team at Yahoo with Facebook puts a formidable army to take on Google.
What a move this makes. Yahoo gets everyone off their back, Microsoft gets a credible position in search, and buys Facebook to compete with Google. The price about $45 billion.
This is going to be good.
Update: here is a post from Kara Swisher - Microsoft’s Kevin Johnson’s “We Can Compete” memo - Microsoft needs Facebook and Facebook needs Microsoft.
Update 2: Robert Scoble (my former employee 
) is taking my report of Microsoft buying Facebook conversation to the next level. This will be developing further but in the meantime the jockeying is going on. This explains the recent moves at many levels… take the employees of Google leaving to join Facebook.. Facebooks posture toward Google, and the general platform behavior lately of Facebook. Maybe they knew that they were pulling a Netscape last week – knowing that Microsoft guns for hostages were coming into town.
Update 3: This is why I love this guy Umair.. Leading minds see the strategy…good post Umair.
That does sound fun. Yahoo saves face with keeping their other properties. Interesting.
Death meet Microsoft’s kiss. Run Forrest run.
That would be quite a huge move. Of course, I don’t think Microsoft would know how to run something like Facebook, and they clearly don’t know how to do search… so users beware for sure.
Why? I do not see any point.
msft buying search by itself isn’t the big move..the idea of pulling just search is one step. word from my sources say that grabing that yhoo team and combining it with facebook is brilliant for msft… the price is the same as the amount of the entire Yahoo.
Yahoo get a few billion for search with a nice business deal to keep the billlions coming in for revenue and shareholder value. Yahoo gets the Icahn and shareholders suit off their back. Microsoft gets what they want search position but a team to run Facebook platform.
Facebook has been struggling lately with their platform most recently the PR blunder this past week with Friend Connect. Facebook is only worth $15billion – Msft puts up $20 and it’s done.
We’ll see
[...] take is that after Microsoft consummates the current deal it has put on Yahoo’s table to acquire [...]
It’s getting more and more interesting.
I doubt they will buy both Facebook and Yahoo in near future. Memo did refer to small and targeted acquisitions. Facebook won’t be small by any stretch.
Also what will qualify as “disruptive” in search business?
[...] latest news is that Microsoft is reaching out to Yahoo again. In fact, a couple reports (here, here) say that Microsoft wants to buy Yahoo’s search [...]
[...] I’m hearing these rumors too that John Furrier (my ex-boss) is reporting. That Microsoft will buy Yahoo’s search and then buy Facebook for $15 to $20 billion. [...]
Facebook = 20 Billion? This is Crazy!
MyspaceMan: Steve Ballmer will pay any price to lock Google out of something cool.
M$ needs to re-invent itself badly, so the Facebook and/or the Yahoo! Search purchases will be very important in defining M$ future. The Facebook deal would give M$ a strong leap forward in the Social Media space, where they have zero market presence, impact or control.
However, these possible deals would spell trouble for everybody that cares at all about privacy on the web. I suppose Social Media sites by nature are more “open” and “social”, but the mere thought of M$ buying Facebook makes me very nervous as an end-user. Same goes for M$ buying Yahoo Search. I’ve lost trust in M$, so these possible acquisitions are making the hair on my neck stand up and freak out!
The revenue potential for M$ is incredible provacative, so they must be compelled to make a sizeable purchase of either or both Facebook or Yahoo! Search. Personally, if I was M$, I’d buy BOTH asap. my 2 cents!
[...] got going, then another and we were off to the races. What was this all about? There is a rumor that Microsoft might buy part of Yahoo and then grab Facebook. To those people who think Microsoft is the work of Satan this is apparently a bad thing. [...]
[...] Furrier.org is claiming that Microsoft is planning to eek out Yahoo’s search engine business and, furthermore, that it plans to purchase Facebook. In light of Facebook’s efforts to block Google’s access to its data, this could make a lot of sense. [...]
[...] Kevin Johnson’s “We Can Compete” memo – Microsoft needs Facebook and Facebook needs Microsoft. http://furrier.org/2008/05/19/silico…then-facebook/ Makes Myspace look like a good bargain compared to Facebook. __________________ FOR SALE: EVGA [...]
[...] ago, might ultimately be bought by Microsoft, according to the reports by Scobleizer.com and also Furrier.org (business & technology blog run by John Furrier, CEO of PodTech Network). I enjoyed the [...]
[...] Will Microsoft really fork over more than $15 billion to buy Facebook? [...]
I dont get it, maybe Im not the smartest guy, but some questions arise:
1) how will Microsoft retain the brand image of Yahoo search – I mean it is almost a sure thing that no matter what they buy will devolve into another :live-blah misbranded product? no?
2) what will Yahoo do with the missing search revenue? Just replace it with Google. I thought that Yahoo has sunk almost a billion into its search platform R&D, – isnt this an admission that they have failed? If so, why would MS want it?
[...] de Redmond serait en cours d’analyse pour le rachat de Facebook pour un montant total de 45 milliards de dollars (dont 20 rien que pour Facebook). Robert Scoble évoque aussi cette rumeur de rachat multiples en [...]
[...] here for the full article. How did I find out about [...]
[...] rumors, swirling about Techmeme from John Furrier with an assist from Kara Swisher, have been stoked by Microsoft’s revelation over the weekend [...]
[...] attempt to cure its lack of Web savvy by first acquiring Yahoo’s search business and then bolting on Facebook for $20-billion or so. For what it’s worth, Robert Scoble says he’s been [...]
[...] Microsoft to buy Yahoo’s search division and Facebook for a cool $45 billion. Apparently the Yahoo search part of the deal will be complete within the week. Now Scoble, naturally has been all over this like a rash (of the good kind) see his post here. [...]
[...] latest wild rumor circulating is that after doing a search ad deal with Yahoo, Microsoft will spend its cash acquiring Facebook [...]
Microsoft will no doubt make a significant purchase soon. It really does remain to be seen how they integrate it (Who heads the team), and if they overpay for it. They have the talent to innovate something exciting. They need a fast way to enter the search advertising business. I’m not sure that Facebook is the answer at all.
[...] rumor du jour is that Microsoft (MSFT) is in talks to buy Yahoo’s (YHOO) search business – and here’s [...]
[...] claramente tiene muchas más aristas que la de un portal tan horizontal como Youtube. Fuentes: Furrier The Deal Microsoft Silicon Alley Insider [...]
[...] Silicon Valley digital media M & A deal “rumors†are recycled big-time, in-the-trenches BIG SILICON ALLEY digital advertising sales deal making is going strong: I am [...]
[...] John Furrier first reported the idea on his site. Now former Microsoft man Robert Scoble says he’s heard the same thing: that Microsoft is planning to finalize its purchase of Yahoo’s search, then snatch up Facebook for an extra $20 billion or so. [...]
I don’t think so.
[...] today is that Microsoft not only wants to purchase Yahoo!’s Search technology, but also wants to acquire Facebook for $15 to $20 million. This has of course, created quite a stir among techies and has Robert Scoble claiming that the [...]
[...] strikes me as ironic timing is that with reports of “Yahoo and Microsoft teams bunkered down in a Palo Alto hotel hammering out the final stages [...]
I’d guess that if MS takes control of Yahoo! Search, they’ll just leave the brand alone, no rebranding at all for the short term. Worked well for IBM and Lenovo and would provide the least distraction for Yahoo Search users. Yahoo! gets a share of the revenue for a several years and MS gets what they are truly after.
Will Yahoo please sell. Yahoo has not been producing since google took over the search business. Let microsoft and google fight with all their mighty powers.
[...] FusionSearchers Sales, Technology & New Media « Zyb acquired by Vodafone for €31.5 Gossip Microsoft buys Yahoo and Facebook 2008 check this  [...]
[...] flying around Microsoft/Yahoo and possibly Microsoft/Facebook, started via John Furrier’s post. And I found myself in sheer disbelief. Not because I do not think Microsoft isn’t being [...]
This is about buying the next “start page”. Facebook, if it succeeds, does so by become the default home page. Search is core to a home page (not searching facebook, duh). Microsoft is the only company in the world who can set the default home page to a large portion of the internet. This is a great strategy for Microsoft to own at least 50% of the search business in two years.
[...] – Silicon Valley Rumor: Microsoft to Buy Yahoo Search and Then Facebook « Furrier.org – Business … (tags: microsoft [...]
[...] apple product, but MicroHooBook won’t be announced at the Apple developers conference. John Furrier was the first to put 2 and 2 together and get Microsoft’s new strategy; buy only what they need of Yahoo and acquire [...]
Jimmy Dell has a great point. It’s a new strategy game…Microsoft needs a flank to move on Google. One small element like Yhoo search and FB can create value from the existing msft services. Right now Microsoft has to be rethinking a rebuild of it’s services approach.. Microsoft has great technology and some sucky technology… they are going through their portfolio and reengineering their online architecture
small price to pay for Facebook when you crunch the msft numbers
[...] rumors are always fun to follow. Today’s tech rumor is that Microsoft will buy Yahoo!’s search business and ALL of Facebook. And as you may have guessed, there has been nonstop chatter on the [...]
He’d be stupid to sell Facebook right now.. It’s only going to grow.
[...] CEO Mark Zuckerberg stresses in a Reuters story that Facebook will not be sold. In response to my blog post of the rumored Microsoft move post Yahoo Search buy this week, Mark denies any [...]
[...] far as I can tell, the origin of this rumor is John Furrier saying this: Why would such a complicated transaction (just Yahoo search with all the headaches and all) be in [...]
John this just doesn’t feel right, even if you discount the denials from Facebook. Two challenged search efforts won’t make a great search effort. The value of Yahoo to MS is the huge internet empire, not the “second place” search department.
[...] mai veramente fermate) che prevedono inoltre l’interessamento della stessa Microsoft ad acquistare anche Facebook. Robert Scoble, blogger molto famoso, ha una visione pessimistica e catastrofica di [...]
[...] the possibility of Microsoft buying the remaining 98.4% of Facebook that it doesn’t own. The “Silicon Valley Rumor†stems from yesterday’s statement-exchange between Microsoft and Yahoo, in which the former [...]
[...] Furrier.org addthis_url = [...]
[...] is a link from John Furrier’s web site on Microsoft to buy Yahoo search and then Facebook. Of course, there is the news from the end of last week on Carl Icahn wanting to kick out [...]
[...] racheter Yahoo + Facebook. Un détail encore, la somme supposée : 45 millions de dollars… Source 1 (Silicon Valley Rumor) – Source 2 [...]
[...] alas, even though BoomTown is also intrigued by the idea as much as tech bloggers Robert Scoble and John Furrier, Facebook is not about to be bought by [...]
[...] on rumors that Microsoft (MSFT) may soon acquire the 98.4% of the social-networking phenom that it doesn’t yet own, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg [...]
[...] könnte meinen, die spielen Monopoly: the Yahoo and Microsoft teams are bunkered down in a Palo Alto hotel hammering out the final [...]
[...] Rumours from silicon valley this week point towards Microsoft purchasing Yahoo Search and then using $20 billion to get hold of Facebook. Microsoft picking up the Yahoo search business. Word is that this deal will be done this week. While this is not surprising, it does bring to question the motives and plans of Microsoft.Techmeme is buzzing about the latest Microsoft Yahoo talks that has Microsoft buying the Yahoo Search business only. Here is Microsoft’s and Yahoo official statements.Why would such a complicated transaction (just Yahoo search with all the headaches and all) be in the cards for Microsoft? After the failed bid for $40 plus billion for all of Yahoo, Microsoft’s intentions are clear. Buy the search business from Yahoo and take that team and go spend at least 20 billion for Facebook. Integrating the search team at Yahoo with Facebook puts a formidable army to take on Google. [Furrier.org] [...]
[...] Network released even more interesting news today. While it’s only a rumor thus far, Furrier says this: My sources say that the Yahoo and Microsoft teams are bunkered down in a Palo Alto hotel hammering [...]
FLVentureBlog > Microsoft, Facebook and Twispers…
Do you remember playing Whispers, Operator, Telephone or Chinese Whispers (UK) — where one person whispers a phrase to another person, who whispers it another person…until the last person hears something significantly distorted from the original p…..
If Microsoft purchase Facebook, or if there are even rumours abound of this type of purchase, I am most definately cancelling and having my account deleted permanently. Microsoft can’t do anything anymore; or at least anything that doesn’t involve company buyouts.
Furrier, what part of “Pursue small, targeted acquisitions” in Kevin Johnson’s “leaked” email are you unable to grok? I don;t MS would categorized FB as a small, targeted acquisition. Unless they end up paying what FB is actually worth, and not it’s speculative worth
Man, Microsoft is really hell-bent on taking over the internet.
[...] common consensus has Microsoft buying–or at least partnering with–Yahoo’s search engine business [...]
Dave: i am able to grok all of his memo. That is why i wrote the post. Are you confused? It’s not about what he said it’s about what it means. Thats where I come in.
Msft is targeting FB clearly and confirmed from sources.
[...] Integrating the search team at Yahoo with Facebook puts a formidable army to take on Google. View: Furrier.org __________________ -S60v5 – The Mobile Zone- -MovieLookz – The Place For Movie [...]
My comment to #57 Dan’s trackback – very relevent post by Dan..
here it is my comment that I left on his blog
hey Dan,
what you’re highlighting is very historic.. these phenoms that your referring to is the massive change in the real time communications infrastructure.. conversations with not so perfect info injected into a marketplace of connected sources are the new efficiency.
The big issue that you’re missing is context..for example I refer Kelly Feller who I know and have worked with at Intel to Umair (who i’ve been following since he started blogging) because Kelly and Umair would benefit by knowing each other – Intel is doing some great work in social media. I did both of them the favor asking nothing in return (that’s the new net). I wasn’t as you were suggesting pumping up my post.
The bigger picture is about social science that intersects technology, relationships, and information. Umair is on the cutting edge of this and is tracking it – does he have all the answers not really no one does but he is developing great work in an open collaborative way.
Personally link baiting will be history as the net gets smarter with filters … information striving for perfection wins!
Hey that’s an opportunity for you to invest
You’re right Twispers phenomenon is real like the unification of the internet.
[...] was following John Furrier’s post which got the rumor mills running yesterday. Now the discussion surrounds Mark Zuckerberg making a [...]
@62. Fair enough. However, knowing Microsoft’s history, they’ve RARELY to two major aquisitions in succession. Quick, excluding adSense, when was the last time MS paid over $2B for a company? BTW, the answer is never. So, history leads me to believe that excluding the Yahoo:search component, which Johnson acknowledged, they have little interest in aquiring Facebook. At least at any price above $1B, and even then they would be crazy and wouldn’t fit their MO. If you look at their history, the majority of their acquisitions have been “small, targeted, acquisitions”. I would hardly put Facebook in either of those categories. Again, unless, like I said, they pay the REAL price for Facebook, and no the “futures” inflated price. History shows that in the M&A space, Johnson is saying what he means. So, again, I gotta wonder what dots you are connecting from Johnson’s email
i wonder why all the google people are over there. is that a sign that it might be google not microsoft?
very interesting
[...] Furrier.org Comments [...]
Hah, Google the best and I think nobody has it will not be able to catch up, so I think that anything that does not produce!
[...] involves Yahoo’s search advertising business. Yahoo’s reaction is lukewarm. The other rumor floating around is that Microsoft wants to buy [...]
Hi webmaster!
Hi webmaster!
[...] they’d better, before Microsoft scoops up Yahoo (which already pledged to support OpenSocial) and makes moves on Facebook. Let’s face it, while it looks like Microsoft is just playing with itself with its Mesh platform, [...]
[...] time, an interesting rumor has surfaced: Microsoft would buy Yahoo Search, then spend a further $20 billion to buy Facebook. Despite what Mark Zuckerberg says about Facebook remaining independent, it would be difficult to [...]
[...] rumor relacionado con el tema es que Microsoft podrÃa intentar adquirir Facebook. Creo que serÃa bueno [...]
[...] here for the full article. How did I find out about [...]
[...] strikes me as ironic timing is that with reports of “Yahoo and Microsoft teams bunkered down in a Palo Alto hotel hammering out the final stages of a [...]
[...] Blodget writes on his blog today the details of what transpired on the weekend prior to June 19 as reported here on Furrier.org. Microsoft was in town to consummate the deal in Palo Alto as well as make a run at Facebook. [...]
[...] trackback Microsoft sets the record straight on the Yahoo search only deal that has been covered over and over again here at Furrier.org and everywhere else in the [...]
[...] this is a pre-text to the posturing that Facebook will stay private and not be sold. One poison pill to take is keeping early employees happy and [...]
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