Marketing Pilgrim

Raise your hand if you’re tired of hearing about the pending Google-Yahoo and/or Yahoo-Microsoft deals. All right, everyone who isn’t me—you’re excused from reading this post. Me—you still have to write it, even though now there’s no one left out there.

Somehow, it’s suddenly news again that Yahoo might do SOMETHING at SOME POINT. (Can you tell I’m not overly impressed?) Sources tell the WSJ that late yesterday, Microsoft was leaning toward a hostile bid. Moments ago, Reuters‘ sources say that Yahoo and Microsoft talks are intensifying to avoid a hostile takeover. Microsoft’s bid has allegedly gone up several dollars.

Meanwhile, sources say that Yahoo will also announce a partnership with Google, making an uneven three-sided contest into a powersucking triumvirate controlling 90+% of the Internet search market, and a considerable portion of page views, advertising dollars and more. Yeah, I’m sure the FTC will look the other way now.

And other facts which I feel like we’ve exhausted which are brought up yet again today:

• Ballmer has three options, and he won’t pay a dime more than Yahoo’s worth (shouldn’t be too hard, since I can’t see Yahoo being valued at much less than what Microsoft pays, once the check clears)
• Microsoft might be bluffing, they might be balking, they might be walking, they might be talking. I should write a song about it.
• Yahoo’s open to all deals, but we already knew they weren’t picky.

If we hadn’t already heard so much speculation from “sources” (and the rest of us in the blogosphere), I might be a bit more inclined to be alarmed (or even vaguely interested) by these developments. But until somebody goes on the record or issues an official announcement (or unless Andy gets some inside information on his Seattle trip ), I’m guessing these sources are . . . well, not privy to quite as much information as we’d all like to believe.

In the stock market: Microsoft’s down slightly, Yahoo’s up, Google’s dropped and the price of tea in China holds steady. Actually, no idea on the last one.

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