fugitive247/yahoo

Microsoft statement: "It is unfortunate that Yahoo! has not embraced our full and fair proposal to combine our companies. Based on conversations with stakeholders of both companies, we are confident that moving forward promptly to consummate a transaction is in the best interests of all parties."

Repeat after me: "omni-corporate date rape"

Holy crap. Yahell may have indeed
opted for the worse of two evils.

From the page: "SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc would consider a business alliance with Google Inc as one way to rebuff a $44.6 billion takeover proposal by Microsoft, a source familiar with Yahoo's strategy said on Sunday.

"Yahoo management is considering revisiting talks it held with Google several months ago on an alliance as an alternative to Microsoft's bid, which, at $31 a share, Yahoo management believes undervalues the company, the source said.

"A second source close to Yahoo said it had received a procession of preliminary contacts by media, technology, telephone and financial companies. But the source said they were unaware whether any alternative bid was in the offing." [read more]
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IMO Yahell doesn't have any other viable realistic options for pulling it's butt out of the meat grinder. In the arena of which is the lesser of two evils, Google is certainly the winner when it comes to a less offensive market profitability. Micro$haft has pissed off too many notable entities and I don't blame those nimrods at Yahell for not wanting to eat a huge slice of humiliation pie in becoming yet another of MS's bitches.

Still, Yahell wants to invade their users privacy in every conceivable manner. Y!'s "Web Beacon Technology" was perhaps the most obvious case in point until an announcement made last week that they're jumping on the Open ID bandwagon (Open ID is a major privacy train wreck in the making- don't get me started!)

If "Open Social" proponent Google were to buy out Y! there's no doubt that Y! would be pressured to play nice with their proprietary technologies. But how such a meld between divergent camps would affect internet users in general is still very much anyone's guess.

From the page: "Most likely, Yahoo! will not be acquired by another company, although it will continue to ring up partnerships to enhance its bottom line. Still, the core functionality of the company is at stake here, and there's miles of work to be done in 2008 -- which will be a make or break year. Even at $10 billion, it's hard to fathom who would want to purchase Yahoo! That means the company is in it for the long haul, and the competition from Microsoft and Google will only get hotter from here."
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IMO, Yahell > file under: dead albatross for sale

Who the hell does Y! think they're kidding? Just the scuttlebutt alone is proof positive once again that if Y! were personified in human form it couldn't hit it's own ass with both hands even if one hand was super glued to a butt cheek.

Kids, file the above statement under "Insane Corporate Management". Yahell slit its own throat when they declined Rupert Murdoch's buyout offer last summer. I can't wait to see how this one plays out!

C&P of invitation sent to several of my favorite Y! 360 friends:

The mass exodus from Yahoo! 360 has begun. Multiply.com seems to be the general re-grouping network at present. You may find that some of your other Y! friends are already here. There's also a Y! 360 Refugees group on Multiply (find it easily in the Groups section of my page). I don't know yet how active I may decide to be here. Still, the premise of social networking is moot when a vital part of our collective network goes under. Namaste.

======== ^^ originally posted in early November ^^ ========
I've decided that I'm in it for the long haul.

"The Evolution of Yahoo! 360" is a misnomer. This official Y! 360 blog entry makes it clear that Y!'s social networking financial flop is folding. Whatever. Still, for Y! 360 it's not evolution; it's extinction.

Y! Mash guestbook entry from li'l ol' moi...

"@Saul Hansell: Hello, Mr. Hansell. I found your New York Times blog (September 15, 2007) through Will Aldritch's Y! Mash page. Kudos on presenting a fair assessment of Mash's unusual beginnings. Like many of us who are carving out our own little niches in Yahoo!'s newest playground, I can't offer any tangible speculations on the future of this endeavor. But even as challenging as certain aspects of developing social networks are, I'll take Mash over MySpace, Facebook, Tribe.net, et al, hands down strictly on the fun factor. It's refreshing to see a social networking community that doesn't have to take itself oh-so-seriously. Namaste.

From the page: "In a recently leaked story on a PR news site, Yahoo has announced its first deal since the CEO swapping fiasco. GigaOm's Liz Gannes caught sight of this timing error on an Associated Press story that could have Yahoo in the front of the line for the online obsessive sporting fan."

And this comes snapping on the heels of this morning's announcement. Who's next? Will Google and Yahoo! end up having a rumble royale?