Google On MSFT-YHOO: We’d Hire Yang; Would Work With Them Again
By Robert Andrews - Tue 20 May 2008 03:00 AM PST
Google’s (NSDQ: GOOG) top trio met whilst in the UK last night to discuss revived Microsoft-Yahoo talks. Earlier yesterday, CEO Eric Schmidt gave his first reaction to journalists: “It’s too early. After this press conference, the three of us will meet and decide what our response is.”
Going in to that meeting, Sergey Brin said on Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) CEO Jerry Yang (via BBC): “Jerry is very talented and if he wants to work at Google we’d be very excited to have him, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
Even so, after Google trialled its ad platform on Yahoo.com, GOOG-YHOO may yet get closer. Brin (via Brand Republic): “Primarily we learned it was good to work with them again… and they have a very similar story to us and things went very well with that test so we would be very excited to work with them again.”
Google has already offered Yang a way out of an all-out takeover by Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT). Now it’s clearly aligning itself with the search portal and simultaneously getting a foot in the door for an interest in whatever the business might look like after a possible scaled-back MS incursion. Asked to name Google’s top competitor, Schmidt admitted: “Eventually, I think it is obvious that it will be Microsoft, based on their actions.” More at PCUK...
Posted in: Companies, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo
Tags: sergey brin, jerry yang, eric schmidt,
