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MySpace for 30% of Yahoo?

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Times Online (UK) reports that “News Corporation has discussed swapping MySpace, its internet social networking unit, with Yahoo! in return for a 30 per cent stake in the enlarged group.”

BloggingStocks is saying that this is a favorable deal for Rupert Murdoch and a questionable one for Yahoo.

If Murdoch could complete this deal, he would realize a 21x increase in the value of his $580 million investment back in the summer of 2005. Yahoo was worth $37 billion yesterday, 25% of which would be worth $12.3 billion. And the nice thing for Murdoch about getting stock would be that he would not need to pay tax on the gain until he cashed out the Yahoo shares.

But for Yahoo, the deal would be of questionable value. As Murdoch pointed out in a recent interview, Facebook is grabbing share from MySpace. From this comment, I infer that Murdoch is not eager to or does not know how to adapt MySpace to regain the competitive initiative. Moreover, Yahoo is so stressed out trying to compete with Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), that it will not be able to devote the resources needed to keep up with Facebook.

Editor’s question: If you’re Yahoo, would you go for this deal?

Originally posted on June 20, 2007 @ 10:18 am

Yahoo! Go for Mobile 2.0 set to launch this Friday

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yahoogo.jpgThe Internet on the mobile phone will take another big step forward with the launch of Yahoo! Go for Mobile 2.0. The service will be available in the U.S. and localized versions in 13 countries. By the end of July, it will be available to more than 200 different mobile phones in the U.S., expanding to more than 400 by the end of tis year. It will also be pre-loaded on new devices from Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, LG and HTC.

“Today’s launch signals to the world that Yahoo! Go is ready for primetime. With the tremendous consumer response to date we believe that Yahoo! Go will be a catalyst for broader adoption of the mobile Internet,” said Marco Boerries, executive vice president, Connected Life Division, Yahoo!. “People want easy access to the Internet on their mobile phones, and Yahoo! Go 2.0 offers content, access and answers wherever you are.”

Originally posted on June 20, 2007 @ 9:39 am

Yahoo stocks gained significantly following Semel’s resignation

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Yahoo CEO ResignsTerry Semel, Yahoo‘s CEO for 6 years, who was reported to have resigned under pressure and was immediately replaced by Jerry Yang, has long been under observation by Yahoo stockholders.

Apparently, Semel was being scrutinized as Yahoo’s stocks have gone haywire over the years. The resignation came less than a week after he was confronted by exasperated shareholders who were unsatisfied with Google pulling farther ahead from them in the web search industry.

The stockholders, it seems, were pleased with Semel’s resignation, Yang’s appointment, and Susan Decker’s promotion to President, resulting to a significant increase in shares since the shuffle. Yahoo shares gained 81 cents finish at $28.12 Monday, then moved forward to $1.33, or 4.7 percent, in extended trading.

Yang stated in an interview, “We are well aware of the challenges facing Yahoo. We need to execute better and to get better talent. I feel Yahoo needed someone to be here for the long haul.”

Semel remains in a non-executive position as chairman and adviser to Yang, saying, “The company is in good hands. I felt like it was time for me to move more into a coach’s role than a player’s role.”

Originally posted on June 19, 2007 @ 5:03 am

Yahoo’s new CEO from old Yahoo

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220px-jerry_yang.jpgIt was a management shake-up that brought Terry Semel to step aside from his Chairman and Chief Executive position at Yahoo. It was an obvious response from a company that has failed to keep up with Google.

In a statement, Semel said that it was “my desire to take a step back sooner rather than later. This is the time for new executive leadership, with different skills and strengths, to step in and drive the company to realize its full potential – it is the right thing to do, and the right time is now.”

Yahoo’s new CEO will be coming from the old Yahoo– Jerry Yang. Will the old Yahoo bring in something new?

In this blog post, Yang writes about his new job.

Originally posted on June 19, 2007 @ 2:38 am

Yahoo leads yellow page style searches, says comScore

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yp-yahoo.jpgcomScore, a company which measures browsing behavior by consumers, was out today with Q1 2007 Internet yellow page search data. This data reflects a growing trend in the number of those who conduct these types of searches.

comScore said the number of searchers thus far has grown by around 21 percent, though the number of searches themselves rose by just five percent. This light growth is attributed to lighter searchers now using online yellow page style Web sites. The data captured over the last year reveals Yahoo to be the market leader with 22.4 percent of these types of searches, with Google trailing behind in fourth place at 12.1 percent.

The perhaps one surprise of these metrics was the 85 percent gain in searches by the Yellow Book Network over the last year. This can largely be attributed to a major national TV advertising campaign, as well as strategic partnerships.

Originally posted on June 13, 2007 @ 4:38 pm