Yahoo!'s stock is up in pre-market-trading on news that Microsoft has approached them once again with a proposal that may satisfy the needs of both firms - at the expense of Google, of course.
Following the collapse of Microsoft's buyout of Yahoo! earlier this month, analysts and media alike have been talking about the possibility of a partnership with Google wherein Yahoo would outsource it's primary business: online advertising. In today's early morning news, it now appears that Microsoft is working to keep its options open by pass-blocking such a deal by offering Yahoo!'s management an olive branch in the form of a very similar advertising partnership deal.
The deal, although no details have been disclosed, would likely see Microsoft's advertisements appear throughout the Yahoo!'s portal website - offering Yahoo! the opportunity to hang-on to some of their independence as well as forging a new cooperative relationship between the two firms. Of course, no one is fooled; the real goal here is to keep Google away and make sure that Microsoft's buyout option is not killed-off completely.
In continuing analyst talk today, there seems to be consensus that Yahoo! will be bought - the only question is by whom. This continuing saga between some of the biggest names in online advertising today is certainly a sumo match to watch closely.
