Read my lips: no new Yahoo bid, says Microsoft's Ballmer

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 20 November 2008 02:25

IT Industry - Strategy

But responding to a question at the Microsoft shareholders meeting, Ballmer made it absolutely clear that there would be no new bid.

"Let me be as clear as, I think I've tried to be publicly. We are done with all acquisitions, discussions with Yahoo!. I've said that a bunch of times. Somehow some people have gotten confused, nonetheless," the Times Online quoted him as saying.

"We've moved on."

But Ballmer also said that while there were no active discussions with Yahoo! about the search side of the business, Microsoft would be open to some sort of collaboration with its former takeover target in that area.

Whether Microsoft is right to try to challenge Google's dominance in search is questionable.

Advertising money tends to disproportionately follow the audience, so Microsoft would need to make major inroads in order to obtain a significant revenue share.

However, the company has invested heavily in various parts of the advertising business, and it could be that at mid-sized (or better)  presence in search is an important part of its strategy.