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August 29, 2008
Google Proceeding with Yahoo Deal in Early OctoberGoogle is proceeding with its deal to serve ads on Yahoo's search results. CEO Eric Schmidt told Bloomberg TV that they were moving forward on the deal despite regulatory concerns.
"We are in the process of talking to the government. They've not indicated one way or the other how they're dealing with us," said Scmidt.
Do you think the Google-Yahoo deal will be stopped? Let us know in the comments.
via Reuters
Related Reading: Congressional Judiciary Committees Look into Yahoo-Google Ad Partnership Now States are Investigating Yahoo-Google Deal
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
August 21, 2008
Yahoo Wins Gold Medal for Online Olympic TrafficAs U.S. workers continue to check out the Olympics online during the work week, Yahoo is beating the competition in drawing eyes to its Olympic content. But if your in management, don't freak out. Peak time for your employees' daily Olympic fix is lunch time. Check out this data from Nielsen Online.
Now, if you'll excuse me, the gold medal match for women's soccer is about to begin - US versus Brazil. Should be a good one!
Related Reading: ConnectU Co-Founders Place 6th in Olympics Rowing Google Sits Out Olympic Search Results; Microsoft , Yahoo Take Home Medals mInfo Chosen as Official Mobile Search Provider for Beijing Olympics
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 8:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
August 15, 2008
Frank Biondi and John Chapple Join Yahoo Board of DirectorsIn accordance with the terms of the settlement with Carl Icahn, Yahoo has added two more board members to complete the expansion to 11. Frank Biondi and John Chapple, who previously were members of Icahn's proxy board, have been appointed just two weeks after Icahn's appointment was made official. 8 of Yahoo's previous board stayed on for the deal.
Here's the lowdown on the new dudes:
Frank Biondi has served as senior managing director of WaterView Advisors LLC, a private equity limited partnership focused on media and entertainment, since 1999. From April 1996 to November 1998, Mr. Biondi served as chairman and chief executive officer of Universal Studios, Inc. From July 1987 to January 1996, Mr. Biondi served as president and chief executive officer of Viacom, Inc. Mr. Biondi is a director of Amgen, Inc., Cablevision Systems Corporation, Hasbro, Inc., The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation and Seagate Technology.
John Chapple has served as president of Hawkeye Investments LLC, a privately-owned equity firm investing primarily in telecommunications and real estate ventures, since October 2006. Prior to forming Hawkeye, Mr. Chapple served as president, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Nextel Partners from January 1998 to June 2006, when the company was purchased by Sprint Communications. From 1995 to 1997, Mr. Chapple was the president and chief operating officer for Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment in Vancouver, B.C., which at the time owned and operated Vancouver's National Basketball Association and National Hockey League sports franchises in addition to the General Motors Place sports arena. From 1988 to 1995, he served as executive vice president of operations for McCaw Cellular Communications and subsequently AT&T Wireless Services following the merger of those companies. Mr. Chapple serves on the board of directors of several telecommunications companies: Cbeyond, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBEY) an integrated service telephone company, and privately held companies Seamobile Enterprises, which provides integrated wireless services at sea, and Telesphere Networks, Inc., a VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) company providing service in 44 states. In addition, he has served as a member of Syracuse University's board of trustees since 2005 and as chairman since 2008.
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 8:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
August 13, 2008
Yahoo Adds Speed, Smarts, and Languages to Safari Plug-In, InquisitorJust 3 months after acquiring the assets of the Safari search plug-in, Inquisitor, Yahoo is announcing updates to the add-on.
Using the recently launched BOSS technology, Inquisitor is now faster in providing Yahoo results. Eight additional languages can use Inquisitor now, as well. They are Japanese, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, and German.
The Inquisitor client got a fresh redesign and so did the home page for the plug-in.
What do you think of these updates? Do you use Inquisitor? Let us know in the comments.
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Yahoo Launches Location-Based Open Source Application, Fire EagleWith the onslaught of the iPhone and the increasing popularity of mobile search and social networking, platforms that aid the development of location-based applications are highly useful to the process.
Yahoo is throwing its hat into the ring with the release of a new open source program, FireEagle. Yahoo sees FireEagle as making geo-location apps easier for developers by eliminating the need to build the location-aware infrastructure. Users will benefit from the ability to turn on and off the location-aware feature.
"Fire Eagle is about making everything on the Internet more useful, fun or interesting by adding the element of location," said Tom Coates, head of product at Yahoo! Brickhouse. "We're here to help people take their location to the Web by giving them the ability to control how much detail about their location they want to share and which applications they want to share it with."
You can check out FireEagle here.
What do you think about FireEagle? Let us know in the comments.
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 8:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
August 11, 2008
Yahoo Snags Search Ad Marketshare Gain at Google's ExpenseAnalytics firm Covario says Yahoo gained paid search advertising at the expense of Google in the second quarter of 2008.
Covario also said that paid search has gone through a "compression" period, where growth has declined from 52% to 43%.
“Our client roster inspired us to launch this analysis series due to our customers’ unique positions in the advertising ecosystem – they are US-based, but also global in the scope regarding their paid search advertising programs, so they tend not to be retailers or ecommerce vendors who focus on one geographic region,” said Craig Macdonald, vice president of marketing and product management at Covario. “It is very exciting for us to be able to observe first-hand such trends as the bucking of the biggest losing streak in the paid search market – the loss of market share by Yahoo to Google.”
Of course, Google has seen a decline in clicks and search ads they attribute to increasing quality of their ads. That reasoning worked for Q1 results, which blew away Wall Street expectations, based largely on analytical data. Q2 disappointed the street, but so did Microsoft and Yahoo.
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Google Sits Out Olympic Search Results; Microsoft , Yahoo Take Home MedalsOn Saturday night, while watching the Olympics, I learned that there is a British swimmer named Hannah Miley. As a mom of a 10 year old, I found this amusing as my daughter has been thoroughly obsessed with the Disney show Hannah Montana where the lead character is played by Miley Cyrus.
I was curious as to how the search engines would handle a search for Hannah Miley. Would the results be completely dominated by the increasingly scandalous teen queen? Or would there at least be one mention of the Olympic athlete?
First, I checked out Google. After all, they're the best search engine in the world and everyone knows it except people in China (who prefer Baidu) and southeast Asia (who prefer Yahoo). Perhaps we should learn something from this year's Olympic hosts and their neighbors.
Google had ZERO results for Hannah Miley the swimmer on their front page. They didn't even pull results from their news search product, which does have results about the swimmer - during the Olympics! Tsk. Tsk.
Next, I moved onto Microsoft's Live Search. I was greeted with an photo of an Olympic event as the background and part of their new home page design. The first result for Hannah Miley was about the British swimmer!
The main link was to NBCOlympics.com, who is partnering with Microsoft for the Olympics. Then there were several site search links below to send searchers automatically to more detailed information they might be looking for.
You might say that's cheating, that it's not part of some supreme algorithm. I say, it's useful and relevant information for searchers and most will not particularly care how it got there.
Plus, Microsoft did include a link to Hannah Miley's wikipedia page as part of their "regular" result, something the googlebot ignored.
Last, I headed to Yahoo. They served up some news results for the Hannah Miley search. The first one was for the British swimmer and the second was for the Disney star. Then the organic results are dominated by the latter, save for one result from Zimbio.com about the athlete.
So that's how the "big three" search engines are handling the 2008 Olympics. Microsoft clearly takes the gold, Yahoo is half-heartedly participating, and Google is sitting out the games altogether.
And if you think it's unfair of me to use a search for "Hannah Miley" as the basis for such a statement. Check out the screenshots below for a search for American superstar swimmer Michael Phelps and tell me who's serving up the best results. (This time Yahoo wins the gold!)
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 8:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
August 8, 2008
New Yahoo BOSS Applications: Smells Like Cuil SpiritYahoo recently launched BOSS, aka Build your Own Search Service. Third party developers wasted no time making use of the API to build their version of what search should look like. Yahoo featured four BOSS applications on their Yahoo Search blog.
The first one was 4 Hour Search. Named for how long it took developer Sam Pullara to build the BOSS API/YUI design mashup. It looks a lot like newly launched search engine Cuil.
And just like Cuil, 4 Hour Search is experiencing errors this morning. The above screenshot is Yahoo-supplied. And that's not the only BOSS app that was struggling.
Newsline didn't work for me at first. I conducted a search comparing the coverage of the situations in South Ossetia, Georgia and the coup in Mauritania. At first, I got error pages. Then, I was able to get results, but not that many from today or the past week. And that's after I found the current news. The page brings up a dynamic timeline (which is cool), but it loaded news from 2 years ago front and center.
3D visualization search app Tianamo crashed my Firefox browser, then loaded just a dark blue screen in IE. But here's the screenshot Yahoo posted:
There was one app that did just fine - PlayerSearch. This BOSS app is great for sports fans - especially Fantasy Sports fanatics. This site worked just fine. Have at it, sports junkies.
It's likely that the developers weren't prepared for so much traffic to come their way, but Yahoo should have known better before it told the world about the new apps.
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
August 7, 2008
Let the Games Begin: Yahoo and Icahn Make it OfficialYahoo has officially appointed Carl Icahn to its board of directors, and board member Robert Kotick has officially resigned. The moves were all part of a previously reached agreement by Yahoo and Icahn following months of drama resulting from an unsolicited bid by Microsoft to buy Yahoo.
But with the track record of Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostick, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, Icahn and Microsoft, this game is not nearly over. Instead, the first six months of 2008 were more like announcing the starting lineups at the NBA championships.
Or maybe an elementary schoolyard where the bullies are picking teams.
Either way, expect to see more posturing and smear campaigns, not unlike this year's presidential election.
via Reuters
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 8:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
August 6, 2008
Perhaps Paris Hilton Should Run YahooIf you keep up with politics, then you know that a recent McCain ad portrayed as Obama as simply a celebrity, and included pictures of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.
Paris Hilton has responded to the ad with a hilarious video on FunnyOrDie.com, a popular online video sharing and voting site, where many celebrities have appeared before.
Hilton broke from her normal persona to reveal the intelligent side of herself. Yes, you read that correctly. She was poised (albeit in a bathing suit by the pool), and spoke with more clarity about politics than any Washington official.
But her energy plan is where the genius is truly revealed. Perhaps, Paris Hilton should run Yahoo? Hey, Carl Icahn is looking for a two people to join him on the expanded board, especially after TimeWarner nixed Jonathan Miller's chances of being part of Icahn's coup d’état. After watching this video, I'm convinced Paris could broker a deal with Microsoft that will leave everyone happy. Well, except Bostock and Yang. But they had their chance.
See Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Ad and more funny videos on FunnyOrDie.comSee more funny videos at Funny or Die
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Yahoo Confirms Vote Error, Yang and Bostock Not Liked So Much After AllYahoo has confirmed that a 'tabulation error' occurred in the shareholder vote count conducted by Broadridge Financial Solutions, the independent firm hired to do the job. Turns out, just over half of the shareholders felt the need to vote Chairman Roy Bostock and CEO Jerry Yang. It's probably a good thing (for them) that they reached that settlement with Carl Icahn, or else the vote may have turned a worse outcome for the two.
Here's the new tally:
Here's the old tally:
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 8:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
SEW Experts: Woohoo for YahooEven after the vote re-count, a majority of shareholders voted Yahoo's board in, and Carl Icahn settled for the right to propose two board seats and a spot for himself. In today's Searching for Meaning column, "Woohoo for Yahoo," Kevin Ryan asks what, at the end of the day, is more important than rebuilding the Web's biggest brand?
Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
August 5, 2008
Yahoo's Right Media Exchange to Feature LucidMedia Contextual AdvertisingToday, Yahoo announced that Right Media Exchange will feature LucidMedia's patented ClickSense contextual advertising. The targeted ad solution has been testing since May, culminating in a partnership between the two. Buyers and publishers will be able to contextually categorize 60 vertical channels in Right Media Exchange's display advertising inventory.
"LucidMedia's ClickSense technology will significantly help increase the prospective yield of a publisher's available inventory and improve an advertiser's ability to contextually target ads to relevant content and categories through the Right Media Exchange," said Bill Wise, General Manager, Right Media. "We are excited to bring this capability to Exchange participants and look forward to working with the LucidMedia team to deepen the use of ClickSense across the Exchange."
Related Reading: Yahoo! to Integrate Right Media and AMP Ad Management Platforms, But When? Yahoo's Latest Partnership: Online and Mobile Advertising Integration with Publicis Yahoo to Acquire Right Media
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Yes, There is a New Yahoo UpdateIf you're noticing changes in your Yahoo rankings, you're not alone. Yahoo has released an update to their search index.
The last update was released about a month ago.
One commenter on the Yahoo Search blog said that Yahoo's results look a lot like Microsoft's Live Search results. What are you seeing?
Leave a comment and tell us what you're seeing!
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Will Yahoo Be Counting Hanging Chads?With so much disappointment in the Yahoo board among shareholders, how did Chairman Roy Bostock and CEO Jerry Yang manage to get more votes this year than at last year's shareholders meeting? That's a question on the minds of Capital Research & Management, which sent proxy committees to represent its two funds that own a big chunk of Yahoo stock. The proxy committees recommended that votes for Bostock and Yang be withheld in order to demonstrate their disapproval of Microsoft's bid.
Capital Research & Management has talked with Broadridge Financial Solutions about investigating the vote to see if some votes were not counted. The way the votes stand now, it would appear that if CR&M's votes were counted - and they withheld them, they were among the only to vote against Bostock and Yang, which seems a bit odd given the current climate
Additionally, fewer votes were cast than last year, which only adds to the drama. On the one hand, perhaps fewer people wished to vote when they were so disappointed with the current board. On the flip side, wouldn't more people want to show up during such an important year and make their voice heard? An investigation into the vote count could answer this question.
Yahoo has said they have played no part in a possible error in the count. Yahoo doesn't perform the vote count, but instead a third party is required to do so.
via BoomTown
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
August 4, 2008
'Twas the Monday After the Yahoo Shareholder MeetingThe Yahoo shareholder meeting has come and gone without much fanfare, thanks to the settlement between the Yahoo board and Carl Icahn to keep the current board but expand it by 3 seats post-meeting. But there are a few interesting tidbits you'll want to know.
Firstly, TimeWarner has stepped in to prevent Jonathan Miller from joining the expanded Yahoo board. Yahoo had requested that Miller be placed on a list created by Carl Icahn for 2 of the expanded seats, the other one taken by Icahn of course. TimeWarner says Miller is under a no-compete contract with AOL.
And even though the current board was re-elected, that doesn't mean shareholders have been appeased. Many are still furious with Yang and the gang for turning down Microsoft's sweet $33 per share deal. The stock, once up in the high 20's has gone back down to the $19-20 level, where it was when Microsoft initially made its offer.
At least one shareholder, the outspoken Eric Jackson, is holding out hope for an eventual Microsoft buyout. He believes the software giant will come back for another grab in 2009.
But will the offer be as sweet? Tell us your predictions for the Microsoft-Yahoo saga in the comments.
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
August 1, 2008
Yahoo Sets Yelp, LinkedIn, and Yahoo Local SearchMonkey Apps to 'Default On'Last month, Yahoo launched the SearchMonkey gallery, where searchers can go and add applications to their Yahoo search. Now, Yahoo is making three of those apps automatic for all users.
The Yelp, LinkedIn, and Yahoo Local SearchMonkey apps are now set to 'default on.' The three apps have been part of a test Yahoo conducted where they set the app to default on for select users. Yahoo says they saw click-through rates increase as much as 15% as a result.
Yahoo has also added a sharing feature with the apps, so you can email results to friends.
SearchMonkey, which allows third party developers to develop applications for Yahoo's search product, launched in May.
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
July 29, 2008
Cloud Computing Unites Yahoo, HP, IntelYahoo, Intel and Hewlett Packard announced an alliance to advance "cloud computing," backing a global trend that threatens Microsoft's iron-fisted grip on packaged software installed on computers.
Earlier this year Google and IBM teamed up to advance research into providing SAAS (software as a service) on the Internet hosted by data centers.
Cloud computing isn't as futuristic as it sounds. Web-based email (Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail) offered by Google, Yahoo, Microsoft is an example of cloud computing. Google has expanded its online software offerings to include word documents, spread sheets and more under the Google Docs brand.
The cloud computing initiative falls in line with Yahoo's goal of open systems. Results of research done at the centers will be made public to make it easier for software developers to write applications for cloud computing.
"We believe this collaboration will do a great deal to take the research to the next level," Yahoo Research chief Prabhakar Raghavan said during the conference call.
"We are really fueling the ecosystem here... Inevitably an application developer will build more readily for the cloud."
Posted by Kevin Heisler at 3:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
T. Boone Pickens Sells Entire Yahoo Stake, 10 Million SharesI was literally in the middle of writing a post entitled "All Quiet on the Yahoo Front" when news broke about T. Boone Pickens selling off his entire stake in Yahoo.
I was pondering whether or not the calm was more like a relaxing day at the spa or an eerie moment in a M. Night Shyamalan movie when the famed Texas oilman took the latter route.
Pickens, known most recently for his alternative energy plan, bought 10 million shares back in May when he decided to throw his support behind Carl Icahn.
Now that Carl Icahn is somewhat in cahoots with Yahoo, with the announcement that he will join an expanded Yahoo board, Pickens is selling of his shares.
Telling the San Francisco Chronicle, "I think that Yahoo management was pathetic," Pickens was adamant about Yahoo agreeing to Microsoft's offer to buy the company.
Yahoo's annual shareholders meeting will be held this Friday.
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
July 23, 2008
Yahoo Researcher Seeks to Combine Semantic Search MethodsYahoo researcher Peter Mika has written up an extensive article on semantic search. First he talks about the limitations to syntax-based search:
- It is almost impossible to return search results that relate to the secondary sense of a term—especially if a dominant sense exists—for example, try searching for George Bush the beer brewer as compared to the President
- The capabilities of computational advertising, which is largely also an IR problem (for example, retrieving matching ads from a fixed inventory), are clearly impacted because of the sparsity of advertisements.
- When no clear key exists, search engines are unable to perform queries on descriptions of objects. For example, try searching for the author of this article with the keywords ‘semantic web researcher working for yahoo.’
- Current search technology is unable to satisfy any complex queries requiring information integration such as analysis, prediction, scheduling, etc. An example of such integration-based tasks is opinion mining regarding products or services. While there have been some successes in opinion mining with pure sentiment analysis, it is often the case that users like to know what specific aspects of a product or service are being described in positive or negative terms and to have the search results appear aggregated and organized. Information integration is not possible without structured representations of content.
- Multimedia queries are also difficult to answer, as multimedia objects are typically described with only a few keywords (tagging) or sentences. This is typically too little text for the statistical methods of IR to be effective.
Mika says there are two approaches to semantic search: Natural Language Processing (NLP) and the Semantic Web.
Natural Language Processing "builds on the automatic analysis of text." Semantic search company hakia is an example of natural language processing. Interestingly, hakia uses Yahoo search technology, including the recently announced Yahoo's BOSS (Build Your own Search Service). Powerset, which was recently acquired by Microsoft, is another example of NLP. These NLP semantic search providers "extract entities from text, disambiguate them against large-scale background knowledge sources (PowerSet uses Freebase, Hakia has its own ontology), and then record the relationships as found in the text." Users can query by asking full questions, though many still use keywords.
Semantic Web "aims to make the web more easily searchable by allowing publishers to expose their metadata." Mika says most publishers are willing to share their data if it results in increased traffic. Plus, semantic web allows publishers to avoid costs and quality issues associated with NLP. But last year, Yahoo researcher Mor Naaman declared the Semantic Web dead. Naaman's reasoning was the limitation of microformats, but Mika says that the new RDFa standard would have greater capabilities.
What Mika wants to do is to integrate the best of NLP and semantic web. He says Yahoo's SearchMonkey platform allows for this integration to occur.
To dig into all the technical nitty gritty, check out Mika's full article, "Semantic Search Arrives at the Web."
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
July 22, 2008
Yahoo Q2 2008 Disappoints Wall St.Yahoo Second Quarter 2008 Financial Results • Revenues were $1,798 million for the second quarter of 2008, a 6 percent increase compared to $1,698 million for the same period of 2007.
• Marketing services revenues were $1,587 million for the second quarter of 2008, a 7 percent increase compared to $1,486 million for the same period of 2007.
“Yahoo!'s transformation gained momentum in the second quarter as we announced new product initiatives and partnerships along with solid financial results,” said Sue Decker, president Yahoo! in a statement. “We advanced our position with users by opening up Yahoo! through new innovative offerings like SearchMonkey and BOSS in search and have seen great improvements with Buzz in the freshness of content on our home page. Our commercial agreement with Google is another great example of our open strategy and we expect it will strengthen our competitive position as a leading provider of search and display advertising. On the advertising side, our growing list of major agency partners including Publicis, WPP, Havas and premier publishing partners including walmart.com, and CNET and Turner are great examples of our ability to be the partner of choice across search and display advertising. We remain confident that our efforts will lead to a stronger and more profitable Yahoo!.”
o Marketing services revenues from Owned and Operated sites were $1,016 million for the second quarter of 2008, a 14 percent increase compared to $892 million for the same period of 2007.
o Marketing services revenues from Affiliate sites were $571 million for the second quarter of 2008, a 4 percent decrease compared to $594 million for the same period of 2007.
• Fees revenues were $211 million for the second quarter of 2008, a less than 1 percent decrease compared to $212 million for the same period of 2007.
• Revenues excluding traffic acquisition costs (“TAC”) were $1,346 million for the second quarter of 2008, an 8 percent increase compared to $1,244 million for the same period of 2007.
• Operating income for the second quarter of 2008 was $101 million, a 45 percent decrease compared to $185 million for the same period of 2007.
o Operating income for the second quarter of 2008 includes incremental costs of $22 million incurred for outside advisors related to Microsoft’s proposals to acquire all or a part of the Company, other strategic alternatives, the proxy contest, and related litigation defense costs. • Free cash flow for the second quarter of 2008 was $231 million, a 30 percent decrease compared to $328 million for the same period of 2007.
• Net income for the second quarter of 2008 was $131 million or $0.09 per diluted share compared to $161 million or $0.11 per diluted share for the same period of 2007. “Despite a difficult economic environment, we posted solid results in line with the ranges we indicated in April,” said Blake Jorgensen, chief financial officer, Yahoo! in a statement. “GAAP revenue was $1.8 billion, with operating cash flow on a normalized basis coming in at $449 million. Our diverse advertiser base and compelling value proposition for our customers were key factors behind Yahoo!’s strong second quarter performance.”
Posted by Kevin Heisler at 5:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Yang to Yahoos: One Team, One VoiceWe're not sure what the long-term implications of the Yahoo-Yang-Icahn settlement will be. In the short term, though, the agreement that ended the impending proxy fight appears to have inspired Jerry Yang to use capital letters in his memos to employees.
Here's the full text of Jerry Yang's take on the Icahn affair. Today, Yahoo! moves past a distracting proxy contest. This morning we announced a settlement with Carl Icahn which will enable Yahoo! to put an end to this challenging chapter in our history, and allow us to get back to the business at hand – building our business and maximizing value for all stockholders.
Over the past few weeks we’ve made progress communicating with investors, helping them to better understand our roadmap for long-term growth, our valuable combination of assets, and our solid position in the converging search and display marketplaces. These discussions have been productive for everyone.
Under the terms of the settlement with Mr. Icahn, he has withdrawn his nominees for consideration at the annual meeting, and has agreed to vote his Yahoo! shares in support of the Board’s nominees. At our annual stockholder meeting on Aug. 1, we’ll ask stockholders to re-elect eight of our current directors. (In connection with the settlement of the proxy contest, Bobby Kotick has notified the Company that he will not stand for re-election to the Board.) After the annual meeting, Mr. Icahn will be appointed to our Board. We’ve also agreed to expand our Board to make room for two additional members to be chosen by the Board upon the recommendation of the Board’s Nominating and Governance Committee from a list that includes the rest of Mr. Icahn’s slate and Jon Miller, former Chairman and CEO of AOL.
We’re pleased that both parties were able to work together productively to accomplish this settlement, and we look forward to working with the new Board members and benefiting from their fresh perspective.
Yahoo! is now moving forward with one team and one voice, and we’re excited about what the future holds.
Jerry Yang CEO and Chief Yahoo
Posted by Kevin Heisler at 2:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Google Barely Inches Out Yahoo for Top Web Property; Platform-A Top Ad Network for June 2008comScore has released the top 50 ad networks and top 50 web properties for June 2008.
In ad networks, AOL's Platform-A takes the top spot, reaching 90% of American internet users. Yahoo comes in second, reaching 83% and Google comes in third with 81%. Here's the full list:
In web properties, Google leads the pack 140.2 million unique visitors, but Yahoo comes in a very close second at 140.1 million. This past April, Google's sites beat Yahoo's properties for the first time. Microsoft trails in third with 119 million. AOL is in 4th with 110 million and Fox Interactive rounds out the top 5 with 85 million. Here's the chart:
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
July 21, 2008
Yahoo Settles with Icahn - Yang Keeps Job; Icahn to Join BoardJerry Yang threw Carl Icahn a bone today. So Carl Icahn called the dogs off.
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO),announced today that it has agreed to settle with Carl Icahn to avoid a proxy contest related to the Company's 2008 annual meeting of stockholders.
* Jerry Yang will remain CEO. * Carl Icahn will join the board. * Eight Board members will face re-election.
Under the terms of the settlement agreement, eight members of Yahoo!'s current Board of Directors will stand for re-election at the 2008 annual meeting: Roy Bostock, Ronald Burkle, Eric Hippeau, Vyomesh Joshi, Arthur Kern, Mary Agnes Wilderotter, Gary Wilson and Jerry Yang. Robert Kotick has decided not to stand for re-election to the Board at the 2008 annual meeting.
After the 2008 annual meeting, the Yahoo! Board will increase to 11 members. Carl Icahn will be appointed to the Board and the remaining two seats will be filled by the Board upon the recommendation of the Board's Nominating and Governance Committee from a list of nine candidates recommended by Mr. Icahn, which includes the eight remaining members of the Icahn slate of nominees and Jonathan Miller, currently a partner in Velocity Interactive Group and former Chairman and CEO of AOL.
As part of the settlement agreement, Mr. Icahn, who owns an aggregate of 68,786,320 shares, or 4.98% of Yahoo! common stock, has agreed to withdraw his nominees for consideration at the annual meeting and to vote his Yahoo! shares in support of the Board's nominees.
"We are gratified to have reached this agreement, which serves the best interests of all Yahoo! stockholders," said Yahoo! Chairman Roy Bostock in a statement. "We look forward to working productively with Carl and the new members of the Board on continuing to improve the Company's performance and enhancing stockholder value. Yahoo! is a world-class company with an extremely bright future, and collaborating together, I believe we can help the Company achieve its ambitious goals."
"This agreement will not only allow Yahoo! to put the distraction of the proxy contest behind us, it will allow the Company to continue pursuing its strategy of being the starting point for Internet users and a must buy for advertisers," said Yahoo! Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Jerry Yang in a statement. "No other company in the Internet space has our unique combination of global brand, talented employees, innovative technologies and exceptional assets, attributes that will help us take advantage of the large and growing opportunity ahead of us. I look forward to working together with our new colleagues on the Board to make that happen."
Mr. Icahn said in a statement, "I am very pleased that this settlement will allow me to work in partnership with Yahoo!'s Board and management team to help the Company achieve its full potential. While I continue to believe that the sale of the whole Company or the sale of its Search business in the right transaction must be given full consideration, I share the view that Yahoo!'s valuable collection of assets positions it well to continue expanding its online leadership and enhancing returns to stockholders. I believe this is a good outcome and that we will have a strong working relationship going forward. Additionally, I am happy that the board has agreed in the settlement agreement that any meaningful transaction, including the strategy in dealing with that transaction, will be fully discussed with the entire board before any final decision is made."
Yahoo intends to file the full text of the settlement agreement later today with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and will also file and mail to its stockholders, supplemental proxy material.
Posted by Kevin Heisler at 8:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Yahoo and Carl Icahn Agree to SettlementYahoo has announced that it has forged an agreement with Carl Icahn. Here's the details.
Yahoo's board will expand to 11 members, but only 8 of the current board will stay on. They are:
Roy Bostock Ronald Burkle Eric Hippeau Vyomesh Joshi Arthur Kern Mary Agnes Wilderotter Gary Wilson Jerry Yang
Robert Kotick is the remaining board member. He's decided to step down.
The expansion will occur AFTER the August 1 shareholders meeting. Carl Icahn will become a board member, and then 2 more will be added from a list of 9 that Icahn will supply. The list will be the 8 remaining members of Icahn's now-cancelled proxy board plus Jonathan Miller, partner in Velocity Interactive Group and former Chairman and CEO of AOL.
Icahn owns an aggregate of 68,786,320 shares, or 4.98% of Yahoo! common stock. He will vote his shares for the current board at the August 1 shareholders meeting.
Here's the corporate-speak:
"We are gratified to have reached this agreement, which serves the best interests of all Yahoo! stockholders," said Yahoo! Chairman Roy Bostock. "We look forward to working productively with Carl and the new members of the Board on continuing to improve the Company's performance and enhancing stockholder value. Yahoo! is a world-class company with an extremely bright future, and collaborating together, I believe we can help the Company achieve its ambitious goals."
"This agreement will not only allow Yahoo! to put the distraction of the proxy contest behind us, it will allow the Company to continue pursuing its strategy of being the starting point for Internet users and a must buy for advertisers," said Yahoo! Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Jerry Yang. "No other company in the Internet space has our unique combination of global brand, talented employees, innovative technologies and exceptional assets, attributes that will help us take advantage of the large and growing opportunity ahead of us. I look forward to working together with our new colleagues on the Board to make that happen."
Mr. Icahn said, "I am very pleased that this settlement will allow me to work in partnership with Yahoo!'s Board and management team to help the Company achieve its full potential. While I continue to believe that the sale of the whole Company or the sale of its Search business in the right transaction must be given full consideration, I share the view that Yahoo!'s valuable collection of assets positions it well to continue expanding its online leadership and enhancing returns to stockholders. I believe this is a good outcome and that we will have a strong working relationship going forward. Additionally, I am happy that the board has agreed in the settlement agreement that any meaningful transaction, including the strategy in dealing with that transaction, will be fully discussed with the entire board before any final decision is made."
What do you think of this settlement? Sound off in the commments.
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 8:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
July 20, 2008
Is YouTube about to pass Yahoo in expanded searches?On Friday, comScore announced that Google retained its lead in the U.S. core search market capturing 61.5 percent of the searches conducted in June 2008. By and large, the press coverage focused on the fact that Google's share of core searches was down slightly from May, while Yahoo! and Microsoft's share of core searches were up slightly from the previous month.
But, farther down the comScore press release was data on the "expanded search queries" for June. This includes the top properties where search activity is observed -- like YouTube. And here's what comScore qSearch 2.0 found: -- 7.3 billion expanded search queries were conducted at Google in June; -- 2.5 billion expanded search queries were conducted at Yahoo that month; -- 2.3 billion expanded search queries were conducted at YouTube and other Google sites; -- 1.1 billion expanded search queries were conducted at MSN-Windows Live.
And the month to month growth of expanded search queries at YouTube was 15%, while it was 8% at Yahoo!
So, let the countdown begin. How many months do you think it will take before YouTube passes Yahoo!?
According to comScore Video Metrix, 82.2 million viewers watched 4.1 billion videos in May on YouTube.com -- that's an average of 50.4 videos per viewer. It's also worth noting that YouTube.com accounts for more than 98 percent of all videos viewed at Google Sites, which means that Google Video is now round off error.
Okay, to be fair, expanded searches includes ones for mapping and local directories as well as user-generated video sites. So, YouTube and Google Maps are being combined in the comScore data.
Nevertheless, the media world still seems focused on core searches, which doesn't count about 5.1 billion expanded searches a month.
So, it's important to remember that vertical search engines are ... search engines, too. And getting found in all the right places increasingly means optimizing video for YouTube as well as web pages for Google, Yahoo! Search and Live Search.
Posted by Greg Jarboe at 12:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
July 18, 2008
Legg Mason Continues Support Yahoo's Current BoardIn April, before Microsoft's ultimatum for Yahoo to accept its bid came to pass, Legg Mason threw its support behind Yahoo. Now the investor group is continuing its support of Yahoo and plans to vote for the current board at the upcoming August 1 shareholders meeting.
However, Legg Mason did advise Yahoo and Carl Icahn to bury the hatchet by the time of the meeting. Icahn has submitted a proxy board to replace the current board and has been in talks with Microsoft for a deal should his board win.
Legg Mason owns 60.7 million shares of Yahoo, adding up to 4.4% of the total shares.
via Reuters
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
July 17, 2008
Yahoo's Latest Letter to Shareholders: We'll Sell for $33 Per ShareIn a letter that is likely to believed by almost no one, Yahoo regurgitated much of the same old statements about Microsoft and Carl Icahn - and then slipped in something about selling the entire company for $33 a share. Of course, that's only "if Microsoft will negotiate a transaction that delivers certainty of value and certainty of closing. This is the simplest, most straightforward way to maximize value for you."
Rumor had it that Yahoo wanted somewhere in the neighborhood of $35-37 per share in the spring when the deal went south. Both sides have accused the other of walking away prematurely.
Then Carl Icahn created a proxy board and subsequently called for Yahoo to sell for $34.375 a share. Now Yahoo says it will go for $33 per share.
If I were Microsoft, I would just sit back, relax and continue to watch the price drop. If I were Google, I'd continue laughing all the way to the bank.
Here's the full letter:
Dear Fellow Stockholder:The recently-formed Carl Icahn-Microsoft alliance continues to make misleading statements about their plans for Yahoo!. Your Board of Directors believes strongly that the Icahn-Microsoft agenda -as presented to us jointly last week - will destroy stockholder value at Yahoo!, serving only their very narrow special interests, clearly not your interests.
Your Board continues to work to maximize value for you and is taking the following steps to do so:
-- Moving forward with our strategic plan and strategies to lead in online advertising - with both search and display;
-- Preparing to implement our recently signed commercial agreement with Google that will increase cash flow;
-- Continuing to explore other ways to unlock value and return value to you such as unlocking the value of our Asia assets; and
-- Remaining open to negotiating a value creating transaction (including with Microsoft) that provides real and certain value - not just the possibility of value.
In contrast, let's review Carl Icahn's brief involvement with the Company to date.
Carl Icahn bought his stock two months ago for an estimated average cost of less than $25 per share. He is well-known as a corporate agitator with a short-term approach to his investments. His short-term approach gives Mr. Icahn a strong incentive to strike any deal with Microsoft that enables him to recover his investment and get back his money quickly, even a deal that does not provide full and fair value to you. Is that in the interests of all stockholders? Clearly, it is not.
Mr. Icahn has severely handicapped himself in his ability to negotiate a favorable transaction with Microsoft. Why?
-- Mr. Icahn has made it clear that his only objective is to sell part or all of Yahoo! to Microsoft. That fact, combined with his lack of an operating plan going forward, means that he will have no leverage to negotiate a fair deal with Microsoft. He has set himself up for failure.
-- Second, Mr. Icahn and his slate lack the working knowledge of Yahoo! and its Internet business needed to do two things that are required to successfully deliver a value-enhancing transaction for Yahoo! stockholders. First, they do not have the detailed knowledge to negotiate a complex restructuring of a large, innovative high technology company in a rapidly changing environment. Second, they do not have the hands-on experience to manage and lead Yahoo! during the approximately one year period estimated to be required to gain regulatory approval for a deal or to manage and lead the remainder of the Company (non-search) after a transaction is completed. Don't take our word for that. Mr. Icahn will be calling the shots if his slate wins and yet Mr. Icahn himself told the Wall Street Journal last fall: "Technology hasn't really been one of the things I've focused on too much before" and "It's hard to understand these technology companies." That's why you need a knowledgeable, experienced and independent board to represent your interests vis-a-vis Microsoft.
Mr. Icahn can't make up his mind about what he thinks will work for Yahoo!. He bought his position believing that he could bring Microsoft back to buy all of Yahoo!, at one point suggesting we publicly offer to sell Yahoo! to Microsoft for $34.375. But he didn't do enough due diligence to determine what your Board already knew: that it was Microsoft's decision to walk away and that it had rebuffed repeated efforts by your independent directors to get a whole company acquisition back on the table. Recognizing that a sale to Microsoft might not be an option, Mr. Icahn said as an alternative that we should enter into an agreement with Google (which we were already negotiating and subsequently signed), and that we should walk away from Microsoft's search-only proposal (which we did after careful evaluation of that proposal). Then, in an extraordinary flip flop, Mr. Icahn teamed up with Microsoft and embraced their latest joint search-only proposal--even though it involved significant execution and operational risks and was fraught with flaws that made the "headline value" asserted by Microsoft and Mr. Icahn more illusion than reality.
How can Yahoo! stockholders trust Mr. Icahn to deliver what he claims he can deliver when his actions have been so contradictory -and when all he has delivered so far is a risky proposal of questionable value from his new friends at Microsoft? Yes, the Microsoft/Icahn proposal is somewhat of an improvement over Microsoft's last search-only proposal, but no one should confuse a modestly improved offer with a good offer. The Icahn/Microsoft proposal was more "smoke and mirrors" than objective reality.
Now let's turn to the recent marriage of convenience between Microsoft and Mr. Icahn.
This "odd couple" collaboration - between two parties with keenly different agendas - is indeed perplexing. Why does Mr. Icahn believe he can count on Microsoft to complete a transaction? Certainly Microsoft is a well-respected and successful company and we have been clear that we are fully prepared to do a deal with them. But Microsoft's flip flops and inconsistencies over the past five months are so stupefying that one can only conclude that Microsoft was never fully committed to acquiring Yahoo! either because:
-- Microsoft can't decide what is and isn't strategically important to its online business; or
-- Microsoft is more interested in destabilizing a key competitor so that it can either enhance its competitive position or buy our highly valuable search business--and the enormously desirable intellectual property associated with it --at a bargain basement price.
Microsoft desperately needs to improve the performance of its online services business (consisting of its search and display assets) which, cumulatively since 2003, has lost money despite billions of dollars of investment. And yet Mr. Icahn would ignore this track record and its implications for his fellow Yahoo! stockholders, swallowing a deal that leaves Yahoo!'s future dependent, in part, on Microsoft's ability to monetize search. And, as Mr. Icahn has himself pointed out, it would eliminate any opportunity we may have to sell the entire Company for an attractive premium.
In contrast to the conflicting and confusing statements emanating from the Icahn-Microsoft alliance, your Board and management have been crystal clear about our position.
First, we will sell the entire Company to Microsoft for $33 per share or more if Microsoft will negotiate a transaction that delivers certainty of value and certainty of closing. This is the simplest, most straightforward way to maximize value for you.
Second, we remain open to selling only search to Microsoft as long as it provides real value to our stockholders and resolves the substantial execution and operational risks associated with the separation of our search and display businesses.
Third, your Board takes seriously its obligation to examine all value-creating steps it could take and continues to actively examine many of these now, including a potential spin-off of our Asia assets and a return of cash to stockholders. These are steps Yahoo! could take, if we determine they are feasible and in our stockholders' best interests, without any "help" from Microsoft or Mr. Icahn. But they are complex steps that require care and prudence. These should not be adopted simply because Mr. Icahn and Microsoft are trying to dress up Microsoft's inadequate search-only proposal.
While your Board continues to evaluate the foregoing avenues, your current Board and management continue to execute on our strategy to grow the value of our unique collection of assets. That strategy is working and we believe it can result in substantial double digit growth in operating cash flow as we move forward. Our recently executed search advertising agreement with Google reflects our commitment to achieving our strategic goals, while preserving flexibility to pursue a sale of the Company or even, on the right terms, a sale of our search business.
Please compare and contrast the straightforward, responsible actions and positions of your Board of Directors with the behavior of Mr. Icahn and Microsoft.
There you have the situation, as we see it, put as simply and clearly as we can. We believe the Icahn slate and agenda present significant risk to your investment in Yahoo!. We believe you cannot count on Microsoft to bail out Mr. Icahn's misguided agenda, at least not on terms that are in the best interests of Yahoo! stockholders.
In contrast, your Board remains fully prepared to represent your interests aggressively and conscientiously in the effort to maximize value--whether that takes the form of negotiating a transaction that provides full and fair value, with certainty; finding other ways to unlock and return value to you; or moving forward with our accelerated strategies to lead in online advertising.
Your Board of Directors remains committed to maximizing stockholder value. It is--and will remain--our number one priority. Do not be fooled into thinking otherwise by Carl Icahn.
We strongly urge you to vote your WHITE Proxy Card today for your current Board of Directors.
Thank you for your support.
Roy Bostock Jerry Yang Chairman of the Board Chief Executive Officer
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
July 15, 2008
Congressional Judiciary Committees Look into Yahoo-Google Ad PartnershipLast week the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on online advertising and privacy. Today, the Judiciary Committees of the Senate and House get in on the action as it relates to the recent Yahoo-Google deal.
The Senate hearing began at 10:30 am, but is largely eclipsed by a speech by the President as well as Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's umteenth appearance on Capitol Hill. You can watch it live by clicking on "Live Webcast" here.
The House hearing begins at 1:30pm and the site has links to webcast video, though I personally couldn't get them to work on my laptop. If you're in the DC area, head on over to 2141 Rayburn House Office Building to observe the hearing for yourself.
Google Senior VP for Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer David Drummond will be appearing at both hearings and is planning to touch on the following:
- The agreement will be good for Internet users (who will see ads that are better targeted to their interests); advertisers (whose ads will be better matched to users' interests, allowing them to reach potential customers more efficiently), and website publishers (who will see increased revenue from better-matched ads on their websites).
- Google and Yahoo! will remain vigorous competitors, and that competition will help fuel innovation that is good for users and the economy. Commercial arrangements between competitors are commonplace in many industries. Antitrust regulators in the US have recognized that consumers can benefit form these arrangements, especially when one company has technical expertise that enables another company to improve the quality of its products
- The agreement will not increase Google's share of search traffic, because Yahoo will continue to run its own search engine and compete in online search.
- Yahoo! will make its instant messaging network interoperable with Google's. This will mean easier and broader communication among a growing number of IM users, and enable users to choose among competing IM providers based on the merits and features of the services.
- A number of steps have been taken in the Yahoo! agreement to protect user privacy. As Google supplies ads to Yahoo! and its partners, personally identifiable information of individual Internet users will not be shared between the companies. Yahoo! will anonymize the IP address of a searcher's computer before passing a search request to Google.
Also scheduled to appear are:
- Michael Callahan, General Counsel, Yahoo!
- Brad Smith Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Microsoft
- Matthew Crowley, Chief Marketing Officer, Yellowpages.com
- Tim Carter, President and CEO, Askthebuilder.com
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
July 14, 2008
Vote WHITE: Yahoo's Bastille Day Response to Carl IcahnIn language much more formal than his blasting of Icahn and Microsoft in interviews, Yahoo's Jerry Yang responded -- with capital letters -- to the proposed board of directors designed to unseat him. Today on Bastille Day, Yahoo's fighting its own revolution.
There was no mention of liberte, egalite or fraternite, but Yang could have easily addressed his shareholders:
"Chers Les Miserables,"
Yahoo Inc. mailed this letter to stockholders.
July 14, 2008
Dear Fellow Stockholder:
We have written to you before to explain why we believe your Board of Directors has the knowledge, experience, independence and commitment to best represent the interests of all Yahoo! stockholders. We have also told you why we believe the slate of directors advanced by Carl Icahn is not the right answer for Yahoo!.
When Mr. Icahn began his proxy contest he had no articulated plan for Yahoo! other than a sale of the Company to Microsoft. Today he still lacks a plan that makes sense for Yahoo! stockholders. On Monday, July 7, Mr. Icahn announced that he and Microsoft had engaged in conversations he claimed could lead to a transaction between Yahoo! and Microsoft if his slate is elected. In what was clearly a coordinated approach, Microsoft promptly followed Mr. Icahn's announcement with its own press release, stating that if – but only if – a new Board of Directors is elected, it might be interested in discussing either a transaction involving only Yahoo!'s valuable search assets or an acquisition of the entire Company (something Microsoft had refused to discuss with your Board for months).
The fact that Microsoft and Icahn had indeed teamed up to serve their own ends became entirely clear the evening of Friday, July 11, when Microsoft and Mr. Icahn jointly proposed a new complex restructuring of Yahoo! that would include the acquisition of Yahoo!'s search business by Microsoft. Your Board of Directors was given less than 24 hours to accept the proposal, the fundamental terms of which Microsoft and Mr. Icahn made clear they were unwilling to negotiate. After reviewing the proposal with our legal and financial advisors, your Board of Directors determined that accepting the proposal is not in the best interests of our stockholders.
The Board's rejection of the new proposal was based on a number of factors, including the following: • 1. Yahoo!'s existing business plus its recently signed commercial agreement with Google has superior financial value and less complexity and risk than the Microsoft/Icahn proposal. • 2. The Microsoft/Icahn proposal would preclude a potential sale of all of Yahoo! for a full and fair price, including a control premium. • 3. The major component of the overall value per share asserted by Microsoft/Icahn would be in Yahoo!'s remaining non-search businesses which would be overseen by Mr. Icahn's slate of directors, which has virtually no working knowledge of Yahoo!'s businesses. • 4. The Microsoft/Icahn proposal would require the immediate replacement of the current Board and removal of the top management team at Yahoo!. Your Board believes these moves would destabilize Yahoo! for the up to one year it would take to gain regulatory approval for this deal.
We believe that this odd and opportunistic alliance of Microsoft and Carl Icahn has anything but the interests of Yahoo!'s stockholders in mind. Clearly, Microsoft, having failed to advance in search, is aligning with the short-term objectives of Mr. Icahn to coerce Yahoo! into selling its core strategic search assets on terms that are highly advantageous to Microsoft, but disadvantageous to Yahoo! stockholders. It is ludicrous to think that your Board would accept this "take it or leave it" proposal – under which we would restructure the Company and hand over to Microsoft Yahoo!'s valuable search business and to Carl Icahn the rest of the Company – with less than 24 hours to respond. We remain open to any transaction that delivers full value to our stockholders – we just do not believe such a transaction should be dictated by Microsoft and a single short-term investor.
In addition, Microsoft's position that it would not deal with, or otherwise engage with, Yahoo!'s management to reach agreement on this proposal or to implement it, is completely absurd and irresponsible given the complexity of the deal – one that requires the removal of half of Yahoo!'s business from Yahoo! and then its integration into Microsoft.
In contrast, your Board of Directors points out that a transaction to acquire the whole Company would be much more straightforward and involve far less risk than the new proposal or any similar alternative. The Board believes a whole company transaction could be negotiated and executed prior to August 1st . In communicating with Microsoft and Mr. Icahn our position with regard to their search and restructuring proposal, your Board not only repeated its offer to sell the entire Company to Microsoft for at least $33 per share, but also offered to negotiate an improved search only transaction. Microsoft rejected both offers.
Ironically, Mr. Icahn, who jointly with Microsoft developed and presented this proposal, had previously urged Yahoo! not to sell its search business to Microsoft. Specifically, in an interview on CNBC's Fast Money program, on June 4, 2008, Mr. Icahn said, "... it's crazy for this company now to do this alternative deal and give the store away, because obviously, an alternative deal is a poison pill because once you've done an alternative deal and given the search to Microsoft, you don't need Microsoft to buy you anymore. So, that would be a poison pill...."
Significantly, the Board also believes Microsoft and Mr. Icahn are overstating the value their search and restructuring proposal would deliver to Yahoo! stockholders and substantially understating the risks. A transaction that would separate the Company's search and display businesses is an undertaking of great complexity. While this most recent proposal contains a number of improvements over Microsoft's earlier proposal, your Board's conclusion that the current proposal is not in the best interests of stockholders is based on the following factors in addition to those we set forth above:
The revenue guarantees suggested, which are conditional and subject to reduction, are well below the search revenue that the Company is expected to generate on its own and in association with its announced commercial agreement with Google. That agreement alone is estimated to generate $250 to $450 million of incremental operating cash flow for the first twelve months following implementation, while allowing Yahoo! to remain a principal in paid search; • The success of the remaining Company is critically dependent on Microsoft's ability to effectively monetize search; • Microsoft/Icahn's proposed traffic acquisition costs rates are below market; • The proposal calls for Yahoo! to sell its industry-leading algorithmic search business and its related strategic and valuable intellectual property portfolio for no incremental consideration; and • Many of the components of the headline value that Mr. Icahn and Microsoft put forward, such as the spin-off of Yahoo!'s Asian assets and the return of cash to stockholders, are steps that could be taken by Yahoo! on its own, and the Board continues to evaluate these options.
The choice for Yahoo! stockholders is clear: turn your Company and its uniquely valuable combination of assets over to Carl Icahn and his nominees and allow Microsoft and Mr. Icahn to dismantle the Company and deliver our search business to Microsoft on terms that would be disadvantageous to Yahoo! stockholders, or re-elect your experienced and dedicated Board with a clear strategy and a demonstrated commitment to create value for Yahoo! stockholders. We are prepared to let you, our stockholders, not Microsoft and Carl Icahn, decide what is in your best interests and we look forward to the upcoming vote.
We strongly urge you to vote your WHITE Proxy Card today for your current Board of Directors.
Thank you for your support.
Roy Bostock Chairman of the Board
Jerry Yang Chief Executive Officer
Posted by Kevin Heisler at 4:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Another Microsoft Offer, Another Yahoo RejectionRecently, Microsoft and Carl Icahn got quite cozy, and the budding relationship spawned a new Yahoo offer. Despite Yahoo's insistence that they remain open to an offer from Microsoft, they have, once again, rejected the software giant.
The new deal would split up Yahoo, selling the search portion to Microsoft. That sale would be overseen by Carl Icahn and his board.
The new proposal was rejected for the following four reasons:
- Yahoo!'s existing business plus its recently signed commercial agreement with Google has superior financial value and less complexity and risk than the Microsoft/Icahn proposal.
- The Microsoft/Icahn proposal would preclude a potential sale of all of Yahoo! for a full and fair price, including a control premium.
- The major component of the overall value per share asserted by Microsoft/Icahn would be in Yahoo!'s remaining non-search businesses which would be overseen by Mr. Icahn's slate of directors, which has virtually no working knowledge of Yahoo!'s businesses
- The Microsoft/Icahn proposal would require the immediate replacement of the current Board and removal of the top management team at Yahoo!. The Yahoo! Board believes these moves would destabilize Yahoo! for the up to the one year it would take to gain regulatory approval for this deal
Roy Bostock, Chairman of Yahoo! said, "This odd and opportunistic alliance of Microsoft and Carl Icahn has anything but the interests of Yahoo!'s stockholders in mind. Clearly, Microsoft, having failed to advance in search, is aligning with the short-term objectives of Mr. Icahn to coerce Yahoo! into selling its core strategic search assets on terms that are highly advantageous to Microsoft, but disadvantageous to Yahoo! stockholders. Yahoo's Board of Directors will not allow that to happen. Yahoo!'s Board remains open to any transaction that delivers full value to our stockholders - we just do not believe such a transaction should be dictated by Microsoft and a single short-term investor."
What do you think of Microsoft's latest offer? Was it just posturing in advance of Yahoo's Aug 1 shareholders meeting? Let us know in the comments.
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
July 11, 2008
Google CEO Affirms Stance on Independent YahooIn the wake of Carl Icahn's declaration that Microsoft would buy a Yahoo run be a different board (and Microsoft's affirmation of the claim), Google CEO Eric Schmidt hasn't changed his position on what should happen with Yahoo. Speaking to reporters in Idaho yesterday, he reiterated that he believes an Independent Yahoo is best for the industry.
Schmidt called Microsoft's bid for Yahoo "anti-competitive," something Google has been saying from the beginning. He also said that the Redmond-based software giant has a history of being anti-competitive, and that's evidence enough of their intentions with acquiring Yahoo.
Of course, Google is facing its own anti-competitive issues with its recently announced search advertising deal with Yahoo. Despite the partnership being non-exclusive, the Justice Department formally opened their antitrust investigation into the matter earlier this month.
Still, it's no doubt that the search ad deal fuels Schmidt's desire for Yahoo to remain independent. That and a Microhoo would mean a stronger second place competitor in the search ad marketplace. Though, most would agree that second place is definitely first loser in a Google-dominated search industry.
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
July 9, 2008
Where My Ads At? Yahoo KnowsNow you see it. Now you don't. If you conduct search advertising over at Yahoo, your experience may feel a bit like hide and seek at first. But Kastle Waserman, Communications Manager, managed to find the time and wherewithal at troubled Yahoo to answer this very problem on their Search Marketing Blog.
Our system is designed to check your click charges to see how close you are to your spending limit, and adjusts the display of your ads to ration your spending throughout the day. That way, your whole budget isn’t blown in the first few hours that the ad is online.So what do you do when your ads aren't displayed as often as you like? If your ads are not being displayed as often as you like, it may be time to take a look at how your spending limits and bids are set. To help get your ads displayed more often, consider increasing your spending limits. If that’s not possible, there are ways to work within your means and still compete with the deep-pocket competition.
What do you think of Kastle's tips? Let us know in the comments.
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Yahoo's Yang Rips Microsoft and IcahnCEO Jerry Yang accused Microsoft of trying to destabilize Yahoo without intending to complete a deal, according to the Wall St. Journal. Yang also fired back at billionaire investor Carl Icahn and his selection of a new Yahoo board.
What ticked Yang off? Microsoft said publicly it would restart buyout talks and partial acquisition discussions if Icahn succeeds at replacing Yahoo's board of directors in a proxy battle.
"To trust Mr. Icahn and his board is really a bad choice," Mr. Yang said in an interview with the WSJ.
Of course, Icahn would replace Yang so it's clear why Jerry wouldn't trust him.
Yang said Yahoo would look at any deal Microsoft proposed, and he called Microsoft's apparent unwillingness to negotiate further "baffling." Microsoft and Yahoo advisors spoke last week, but there are currently no formal conversations between the companies, he said.
Microsoft had no comment on Yang's remarks. A spokesperson referred to Monday's statement, which read: "We have concluded that we cannot reach an agreement with them. We confirm, however, that after the shareholder election, Microsoft would be interested in discussing with a new board a major transaction with Yahoo."
Posted by Kevin Heisler at 10:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
July 7, 2008
Yahoo Responds to Icahn's Latest LetterYahoo has responded to the letter Carl Icahn issued this morning. Here's the statement
Yahoo!'s Board of Directors continues to stand ready to enter into negotiations with Microsoft Corporation for an acquisition of Yahoo!. Indeed, as recently as June, Yahoo!'s independent directors and management approached Steve Ballmer about just such a transaction, only to be told that Microsoft was no longer interested even in the price range which they had previously proposed. Now Mr. Ballmer and Mr. Icahn have teamed up in an apparent effort to force Yahoo! into selling to Microsoft its Search business at a price to be determined in a future "negotiation" between Mr. Icahn's directors and Microsoft's management. We feel very strongly that this would not lead to an outcome that would be in the best interests of Yahoo!'s stockholders. If Microsoft and Mr. Ballmer really want to purchase Yahoo!, we again invite them to make a proposal immediately. And if Mr. Icahn has an actual plan for Yahoo! beyond hoping that Microsoft might actually consummate a deal which they have repeatedly walked away from, we would be very interested in hearing it.Posted by Nathania Johnson at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Carl Icahn Returns to Letter-Writing; Microsoft Open to Deal with a New Yahoo BoardThe rumors of Microsoft still being open to a deal with Yahoo are true - with a caveat. The deal would have to be struck with a new board, not with Jerry Yang and his current set of cohorts. It could include a full acquisition or an alternative deal for just search. The software giant released the following statement:
"Despite working since January 31 of this year, as well as in the early part of last year, we have never been able to reach an agreement in a timely way on acceptable terms with the current management and Board of Directors at Yahoo!. We have concluded that we cannot reach an agreement with them. We confirm, however, that after the shareholder election Microsoft would be interested in discussing with a new board a major transaction with Yahoo!, such as either a transaction to purchase the “Search” function with large financial guarantees or, in the alternative, purchasing the whole company."
Of course, it's not just any new board. Microsoft's Ballmer has been talking to Carl Icahn, who has put together a proxy board to take over Yahoo. The talks prompted Icahn to break out the quill, and compose his latest edition in his series of letter-writing expeditions:
Carl C. Icahn ICAHN CAPITAL LP 767 Fifth Avenue, 47th Floor New York, NY 10153
July 7, 2008
Dear Yahoo! Shareholders:
During the past week I have spoken frequently with Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft. Several of our conversations have lasted as long as an hour. Also, a few of our discussions have taken place while other top executives, such as Kevin Johnson, participated. Our talks centered on the industry in general but, more importantly, on how Yahoo! and Microsoft can do a transaction together. Steve made it abundantly clear that, due to his experiences with Yahoo! during the past several months, he cannot negotiate any transaction with the current board. His logic is simple. If and when a transaction was consummated, Microsoft would be guaranteeing a great deal of capital at closing. However, a transaction could take at least nine months and perhaps longer to obtain regulatory clearance in the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere. During that period, if the current board and management team of Yahoo! mismanage the company (and their recent track record is far from reassuring), Microsoft would be putting its money at risk and a great deal could be lost.
For example, in a transaction to purchase the whole company, a very large amount of capital would be due at closing. Even in an "alternate" transaction, where just the "Search" assets were purchased, large guarantees would have to be made and, again, large sums could be lost if the company was mismanaged. Microsoft perceives this risk may be quite high with the current board and management in place. However, Steve made it clear to me that if a new board were elected, he would be interested in discussing a major transaction with Yahoo!, such as either a transaction to purchase the "Search" function with large financial guarantees or, in the alternative, purchasing the whole company. He stated that Microsoft would be willing to enter into discussion immediately if the new board that has been nominated were elected. While there can be no assurance of a future transaction, as many of you know, I have negotiated successfully a large number of transactions over the past years. If and when elected, I strongly believe that in very short order the new board would, subject to its fiduciary duties, be presenting to shareholders either a purchase offer for the whole company or a very attractive offer to purchase "Search" with large guarantees. I hope to continue to be speaking to Steve over the next few weeks; however, since I do not as yet represent the Yahoo! board, both Steve and I do not wish to get into details over price, or even which of these transactions makes the most sense.
Much has been said about how badly the Yahoo! board has "botched up" negotiations with Microsoft over the past months. There is no need to keep pointing out the mistakes I believe Yahoo! made by not immediately taking a $33 offer made by Microsoft. But one thing is clear -- Jerry Yang and the current board of Yahoo! will not be able to "botch up" a negotiation with Microsoft again, simply because they will not have the opportunity.
Our company is now moving toward a precipice. It is currently losing market share in its "Search" function; our current Board has failed to bring in a talented and experienced CEO to replace Jerry Yang and return Jerry to his role as Chief Yahoo!, and currently it is witnessing a meaningful exodus of talent. It is no secret that Google (which hired a great operator as CEO) continues to dramatically outperform Yahoo!. According to publicly available information, Google's income from operations grew 59% per year over the last two years while Yahoo!'s shrank 21% per year. However, none of the above has caused the Yahoo! board to hesitate in paying themselves $10,000 per week. IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE.
If elected, I have little doubt that the new board, subject to its fiduciary duties, will do what the current board will not do, i.e.,
-- Immediately start negotiation with Microsoft to sell the whole company or, in the alternative, sell "Search" with large guarantees.
-- Move expeditiously to replace Jerry Yang with a new CEO with operating experience.
Sincerely yours,
CARL C. ICAHN
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
July 3, 2008
Search Sold Separately: Breaking Down Yahoo's PartsDespite a search advertising deal with Google, Yahoo shares are down and rumors are on again about Microsoft buying just the search chunk of Yahoo. But just how big is that chunk? Would it destroy Yahoo as a whole if sold separately? Not necessarily, according to Hitwise Vice President of Research, Heather Hopkins.
Hopkins analyzed the US internet hits for the top 20 Yahoo properties in the month of June. Yahoo Mail by far saw the most traffic, at 37.47%. Yahoo.com saw 30.62%, and remember that's a portal not just a search page like Google.com. Yahoo Search came in third but only saw 12.10%. The remaining 17 made up a combined 19.83%. Here's the full breakdown of Yahoo's top 20 properties.
Hopkins also took a look at what search referrals look like for the above 20 properties. Yahoo Answers, Finance, My Yahoo, Mail, Flickr, Fantasy Baseball, Hot Jobs, Sports, and Groups all received more referrals from Google search than from Yahoo search. Check out the full chart below.
These numbers are only for the U.S., and Yahoo is more popular in Asia. Attempts to reach Hitwise for Asian data were not immediately returned.
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
July 2, 2008
Yahoo Gives Upcoming a MakeoverJust in time for the Fourth of July, Yahoo has given Upcoming a new look. They've also increased the scope of events searchable on the local events site. New event types include farmers markets, craft fairs and street festivals.
Events for over 8,000 cities can be found on Upcoming and the results are also integrated into other Yahoo products, including My Yahoo!, Travel Guides, Music, and Local. Last October, Yahoo announced that Upcoming would be blended into its search results, along with Flickr and Yahoo Answers.
If you already have an account on Upcoming, then you'll still have access to your communities. Check out the screenshot below to see the new look:
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 27, 2008
Microsoft to (Finally) Acquire Powerset? Should Someone Tell Icahn?Microsoft must have been putting on a good poker face a week ago when it said they weren't looking at any internet-based acquisitions in the wake of failed talks with Yahoo. Venture Beat is now reporting that Microsoft is poised to acquire semantic search company Powerset in the neighborhood of $100 million.
Meanwhile, Carl Icahn is still living his proxy dreams. He's calling on Microsoft to not make an alternative deal with Yahoo unless a $33 per share guarantee is in place, according to Reuters.
The question is: Which of Microsoft's bluffs should we call? The one where they said they weren't interested in acquisitions? Or the one where they're buying Powerset (to once again put pressure on Yahoo)?
Call bluffs in the comments!
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 25, 2008
Microsoft and Yahoo: Are They or Aren't They?Yesterday, TechCrunch reported that Microsoft and Yahoo were talking again. I was immediately skeptical. Recently, All Things Digital had called out TechCrunch as conducting piggyback reporting instead of doing their own heavy-lifting. While I thought that was a bit harsh (All Things Digital is a project of the Wall Street Journal, and quite frankly - who has their connections?), it came as no surprise that TechCrunch would attempt to break a big story.
Still, the mainstream press ran with the story. Surely, they had done their homework.
Maybe not.
This morning, Kara Swisher of All Things D explained why she didn't run with the story: she couldn't corroborate it. I read her story with a firm sense of "I thought so" until she said that her Yahoo and Microsoft sources "emphatically went out of their way yesterday–which is not so typical–to deny any talks were going on..."
Sounds like Ms. Swisher's sources are protesting a little too much.
If talks have resumed, it sounds like they might be doing it the right way this time - keeping the conversation behind closed doors instead of blasting rhetoric through the press. But that might be a big IF.
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 16, 2008
Former Search Technologist and Yahoo Investor Mark Nelson Supports IcahnEven though Carl Icahn has said the Yahoo-Google deal might have merit, former search technologist Mark Nelson has announced his support for Icahn's proxy board, according to Barron's. Nelson founded search technology company Ovid Technologies and sold it to Wolters Kluwer for $200 million in 1998.
Today, Nelson is a partner at Mithras Capital, which holds 1.7 million shares of Yahoo.
In a letter addressed to Jerry Yang, Susan Decker and Roy Bostock, Nelson explained the reasoning behind his difficult decision to sell a company he built:
"Despite my emotional commitment to the company, and despite 10 years of enviable growth and profitability, in 1998 the Board and I came to the conclusion that selling the company was the best way to fulfill our fiduciary responsibility to maximize value for all shareholders."The letter continued on with much of the same arguments we've heard from Icahn in his letters, including references to the poison pill.
Earlier, investor Eric Jackson announced his support for a combo board, that would keep 5 of Yahoo's current board and bring in 4 from Icahn's board. Jackson leads a shareholder group with 3.2 million shares.
Former Search Technologist and Yahoo Investor Mark Nelson Supports Icahn
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 12, 2008
Yahoo on MicroHoo: Stick a Fork In It - We're DoneMicroHoo is dead. RIP Microsoft-Yahoo. Today Yahoo made the official announcement that they've concluded discussions with Microsoft. The possibility of a full acquisition or a partical acquisition are nil.
What's more, Yahoo indicated that an independent search business will be critical to its strategic future and would not be in the best interests of Yahoo! stockholders. That casts doubt on the veracity of the TechCrunch rumor.
Full Text: Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) today announced that discussions with Microsoft regarding a potential transaction -- whether for an acquisition of all of Yahoo! or a partial acquisition -- have concluded. The conclusion of discussions follows numerous meetings and conversations with Microsoft regarding a number of transaction alternatives, including a meeting between Yahoo! and Microsoft on June 8th in which Chairman Roy Bostock and other independent Board members from Yahoo! participated. At that meeting, Microsoft representatives stated unequivocally that Microsoft is not interested in pursuing an acquisition of all of Yahoo!, even at the price range it had previously suggested.
With respect to an acquisition of Yahoo!'s search business alone that Microsoft had proposed, Yahoo!'s Board of Directors has determined, after careful evaluation, that such a transaction would not be consistent with the company's view of the converging search and display marketplaces, would leave the company without an independent search business that it views as critical to its strategic future and would not be in the best interests of Yahoo! stockholders.
Yahoo! remains focused on maximizing value for stockholders by continuing to execute on its strategy of being the "starting point" for the most consumers on the Internet and a "must buy" for advertisers. The online advertising industry is projected to grow from $40 billion in 2007 to approximately $75 billion in 2010 and the company believes it has the right assets, strategic plan, Board of Directors and management team to capitalize on this growth opportunity.
UPDATE: Microsoft has issued a response: "In the weeks since Microsoft withdrew its offer to acquire Yahoo!, the two companies have continued to discuss an alternative transaction that Microsoft believes would have delivered in excess of $33 per share to the Yahoo! shareholders. This partnership would ensure healthy competition in the marketplace, providing greater choice and innovation for advertisers, publishers and consumers.
"As stated on May 3rd and reiterated on May 18th Microsoft was not interested in rebidding for all of Yahoo!. Our alternative transaction remains available for discussion."
Posted by Kevin Heisler at 3:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
June 9, 2008
Yahoo's Call for Search Developers: Bad Timing?In the midst of preparing for a proxy board fight brought on by Carl Icahn, the Yahoo! Search team has put out a call for new employees. A recent post on the Yahoo! Search blog implores, "We're looking for the brightest technical minds in the business to help us build the next generation of search."
The timing is curious. Any developer that's paying attention must be wondering if signing on with Yahoo will ultimately have them at Microsoft. Or perhaps have them out the door in a "last hired first fired" scenario resulting from inevitable staff cuts that follow most mergers and acquisitions.
On the flip side, Yahoo is needing to show its strength more than ever if Jerry Yang and the current Board of Directors hope to come out victorious at the August 1 shareholders meeting. Then again, their call for developers may be part of the strategy. Visiting the Yahoo! Jobs page feels like a tour of the latest talking points in the quest to remain independent.
Visitors are greeted with a big image demonstrating just how many people are using Yahoo:
Not so sure the "Think Purple" appeal is going to go over well with the male-dominated pool of software developers, but to each his own.
Then the site is peppered with these gems:
"With 1 out of every 2 people online visiting Yahoo!, we need some seriously big thinkers to fill these positions. Are you up for the challenge?"
"It would take 7,000 years for all the photos on Flickr to be developed at a one-hour photo!"
What do you think of Yahoo's recruitment of developers for its search team? Bad timing or marketing to shareholders? Sound off in the comments.
Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 6, 2008
Yahoo Response to Icahn: You're Not the Boss of Me!Below for your reading enjoyment we offer the full text of the Yahoo! Inc. Statement on Carl Icahn's Letter of June 6, 2008.
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) today issued the following response to Carl Icahn in response to his letter dated June 6, 2008:
Leaving aside Mr. Icahn's inaccurate interpretation of our retention plan, we again note that he has no credible plan to operate Yahoo!. We believe that Mr. Icahn's suggestion that we cancel our retention plan would have a destabilizing impact on Yahoo! and would clearly not be in the best interests of our shareholders. Furthermore, his suggestion that we put out a price publicly to see if Microsoft will alter its stated position is ill-advised. As we have stated numerous times publicly and privately, we are open to any transaction including a sale to Microsoft if it is in the best interests of shareholders.
Posted by Kevin Heisler at 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Icahn Wants Yahoo to Offer Itself Up for $34.375 Per ShareHardly a Friday goes by without a good dose of Microhoo drama leading into the weekend. Today, Carl Icahn released his second letter in a week to Yahoo's Chairman Roy Bostock. He responded to yesterday's Yahoo response to his earlier letter ripping Yang. Plus, he suggests that Yahoo publicly offer itself to Microsoft for $34.375 per share.
Hey Carl, just one suggestion. That second paragraph is a doozy. Next time, chop those sentences up into more pretty paragraphs, ok?
Anyway, Icahn also outlined 5 steps his board would take if successfully elected at the shareholders meeting on August 1. Check out the letter in its entirety below.
Carl C. Icahn ICAHN CAPITAL LP 767 Fifth Avenue, 47th Floor New York, NY 10153
June 6, 2008
Roy Bostock Chairman Yahoo! Inc. 701 First Avenue Sunnyvale, CA 94089
Dear Roy:
While you may take issue with the content of my letter, I take issue with your oversight of Yahoo! Again, I stand by my characterization of your "poison pill" severance plan and I find it humorous to see you attempt to defend it.
Roy, it is you who "misrepresents and misstates the details" of the plan. Much like the rhetoric in many well known political campaigns, you keep repeating misstatements in the hopes that by repeating misstatements enough times it will convince your shareholders that these misstatements are valid. For example, you repeated, "the plan was fully disclosed at the time of its adoption and should be no surprise to anyone at this point." This is simply not true. The egregious magnitude of the dollar amount cost of the plan was never fully disclosed, nor was the email from your compensation advisor calling the plan "nuts." While you keep repeating that the severance plan was in the "best interests of shareholders", you neglect to mention that the financial cost of the plan could be immense. The documents obtained during discovery and released in the shareholder complaint show that Yahoo! estimates the maximum change in control severance expenses to be a staggering $2.4 billion if Microsoft bids $35 per share for Yahoo! You neglected to mention that the true cost to an acquirer may be even higher as the perverse change in control severance incentives may diminish the work effort of Yahoo! employees. In case you do not understand the plan, in addition to the $2.4 billion of severance expenses, I believe the plan will negatively impact employee behavior and degrade the ability of an acquirer to successfully integrate the acquisition. In the event of a change of control, the employee may decide not to work as hard in the hopes of cashing in on a robust severance package that awards up to two years salary and benefits, $15,000 of outplacement expenses, and accelerated vesting of stock options and restricted stock units. To make matters worse, it is not just the acquirer firing the employee that can trigger the severance package but the employee who may decide on his or her own to resign for "g