By on February 1, 2008

Steve Ballmer’s Internal Email Explains Yahoo Bid

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It seems like only yesterday Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer was busy convincing the world that he was not interested in making a bid for Yahoo.

Now TechCrunch has an internal company email that explains why Microsoft today made an unsolicited bid for the company.

It reads in part:

By combining the strengths of our companies, we can deliver an efficient and highly competitive offering for our customers. Our complementary assets will give us increased talent and scale to compete in the markets of search and online advertising, and pioneer new innovations in the areas of video, mobile services, online commerce, and social media.

…by joining with Yahoo!, we will take the next step toward becoming a major search destination and social platform for consumers. The combined reach of our content properties and combined breadth of our tools for advertisers will enable us to provide an online advertising platform at scale. Together, we’ll create a company that is in a much better position to compete against an increasingly dominant player in this market.

What’s interesting is that Ballmer’s tone suggests Yahoo’s already accepted the bid:

Leaders from both Microsoft and Yahoo! will work together closely on the integration process to ensure that we are thoughtful about the questions we ask and the decisions we make. As we move forward, we’ll look carefully at how to bring our assets together to create the greatest value for customers, employees, and shareholders.

That’s a decision that, while being considered by Yahoo, has not yet been made.


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12 comments on “Steve Ballmer’s Internal Email Explains Yahoo Bid”

  1. Dean Says:

    February 1st, 2008 at 4:15 pm

    Ballmer a scary guy but he will always be Monkey Boy to me. (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1274983729713522403)

    Stay Classy Steve!

  2. OMG ! Microsoft want to buy Yahoo! for $44.6 billion | Athow.com, Tech life at its fullest.. Says:

    February 1st, 2008 at 6:25 pm

    [...] Discussion: Andy Beal’s Marketing Pilgrim [...]

  3. Mobile guy Says:

    February 2nd, 2008 at 5:35 am

    I think MS will bury Yahoo.

  4. 44.6B « The Web Laureate Says:

    February 3rd, 2008 at 1:28 pm

    [...] by point, product by product —          Steve offers an amount that only Microsoft can afford6 new opinions for every two other — [...]

  5. Nicole Says:

    February 4th, 2008 at 2:23 am

    I doubt they can touch Google even with their combined forces.

  6. Zen Says:

    February 4th, 2008 at 6:34 am

    “(…)joining with Yahoo!” Does this mean they won’t tear it up and respect the site as it is?

  7. bill s Says:

    February 4th, 2008 at 9:25 am

    of late “branding’ has been a key word… in online business respect. Zen mentioned respect and tearing site apart as concern…

    How will they deal with branding …. Yahoo online is a better brand name than MSN … so do they blend or drop a name that has cost billionds to build brand recognition???????

  8. Zen Says:

    February 4th, 2008 at 12:58 pm

    To: bill s
    Thanks
    I understand

  9. Jayson Says:

    February 4th, 2008 at 1:56 pm

    This sounds like the easiest way for Microsoft to increase their ad center reach and market share, but I’m not sure either of these companies has what it takes to effectively compete with Google. It’ll be interesting to see how this pans out.

  10. Non-Surprise of the Day: Google Sees Microsoft Bid for Yahoo as “Troubling” Says:

    February 4th, 2008 at 6:29 pm

    [...] while reading about Yahoo’s reaction to Microsoft’s proposal, I ran across this little tidbit from MarketingPilgrim.com earlier today. Apparently an internal email from one of the Microsoft executives leaked out, and it [...]

  11. Paul Brain Says:

    February 8th, 2008 at 6:58 am

    Cold war – Microsoft against Google – proceeds :)

  12. Reviewing a Perilous Transition - The News of February 2008 » Search Engine Optimization Blog Says:

    December 20th, 2008 at 3:11 pm

    [...] Steve Ballmer’s Internal Email Explains Yahoo Bid It seems like only yesterday Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer was busy convincing the world that he was not interested in making a bid for Yahoo. Now TechCrunch has an internal company email that explains why Microsoft today made an unsolicited bid for the company. [...]