Ballmer: Yahoo search pact 'makes great sense'
Published: 08 Dec 2008 08:06 GMT
Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer on Friday said a search deal with Yahoo would be better if done sooner than later, but noted that any potential deal wasn't a factor in the hiring of former Yahoo search executive Qi Lu, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
Microsoft announced on Thursday that it had hired Lu as president of its online services business. Lu was formerly the vice president of Yahoo's e-commerce and search business. Microsoft has repeatedly expressed interest in acquiring Yahoo's search business.
Asked whether Lu's hiring would make any potential integration of Yahoo's search assets easier for Microsoft, should a deal be done, Ballmer said: "I think a search deal makes great sense for Microsoft, and Yahoo, and I think I've been very open about that. That's as true with Qi joining us as it was before Qi joined us. Obviously, the logistics of any such integration... can only be simpler by having somebody who will know both sides. But that was not a factor in hiring Qi."
"Our focus on portal and search is super-strong, and, even if we never do a Yahoo deal or anything else, I wanted to have Qi come on board. It is kind of a bonus that, if something happened with Yahoo, I'm sure it's somewhat simpler," Ballmer said.
Ballmer noted that the two companies are not currently in any talks about a search deal and Microsoft is under no pressure to act on such a transaction.
He added, however, it would be "advantageous" for the two companies to team up on search: "Look, the fundamental basis for doing the search deal with Yahoo has to do with critical mass in the advertising marketplace. It doesn't have to do with technology, or any of these other things; it really is a market phenomenon."
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"Together we would have more advertisers... which means we'd have more relevant ads on our page. We'd have higher monetisation levels possible in front of us because there would be more people bidding on more keywords. Most importantly, Google would have perhaps a real, credible competitor sooner," Ballmer said.
He added: "I think good ideas are usually better done quickly than slowly, so it would probably be better for both of us, and certainly for Yahoo, if we were to do it sooner than later. But, at the end of the day, that would have [to] be something Yahoo would be interested in, as I have expressed our interest."
Lu, who begins his Microsoft job on 5 January, said he plans to zero in on such areas as "talent, core infrastructures, and basic processes" that will improve the quality of the company's products and user experience.
Credit: Ballmer: Yahoo search deal better sooner than later from CNET News
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