Yahoo-Google deal doomed? No, they insist

Resistance from antitrust regulators has doomed Yahoo's search-ad deal with Google, The Deal has reported, but the companies emphatically say discussions are continuing.

"A proposed joint venture between rival Internet companies Google and Yahoo appears headed for the trash bin, just ahead of an expected U.S. Department of Justice challenge to the agreement, lawyers close to the deal said," according to a Silicon Alley Insider quote of the story. "The DOJ could file a complaint seeking a preliminary injunction on the agreement even as the parties assess their options. Antitrust lawyers said the government would have to clear a high hurdle to win a preliminary injunction. But it is even less likely that Google and Yahoo would want to battle the government in court over such a controversial deal, particularly while the financial market is so precarious, the lawyer said."

Yahoo and Google have twice extended their deadline to wrap up the deal, under which Yahoo would show Google's search ads in some cases and bring in $800 million in new Yahoo revenue in its first deal. But the companies said Tuesday that they're still working on making it a reality.

"We are continuing to have cooperative discussions with the Department of Justice about this arrangement and agreed to a brief delay in implementing the agreement while those discussions continue. We are confident that the arrangement is beneficial to competition, but we are not going to discuss the details of the process," Google said in a statement.

Yahoo was on the same page: "The companies agreed to a brief delay in implementing this agreement to continue our ongoing discussions with the Department of Justice. We are continuing those discussions with regulators and look forward to responding to their questions about this agreement. We believe strongly that this agreement will strengthen Yahoo's competitive position in online advertising and will help to drive a more robust, higher quality Yahoo marketplace for our advertisers, publishers, and users."

[ralfthedog]

The deal would be good for competition.

This deal would keep Yahoo independent. Yahoo would just sell some webspace to Google, giving Yahoo the cash to fend off a Microsoft buyout. Microsoft has been a consistent failure when it comes to internet marketing. A Microsoft purchase of Yahoo would drag Yahoo down to Microsoft's level. Yahoo selling a few search phrases to Google would pull Yahoo up towards Google's level.

[Kwasiowusu]

@ ralfthedog: "The deal would be good for competition"

Huh?
You sound like some guy that just stepped out of George Orwell's 1984, an aparachnick from the notorious "Ministry of Truth", which has a bizarro world, where things which are pataently false, are somehow, suddenly, "the truth".
This deal is good for competition like Saddam was good for the Kurds (he gassed them to death by the thousands).

[Mr. Dee]

Yahoo! should have went with Microsoft when they had the chance. Microsoft is probably laughing their heads off right now, and Mr. Ballmer is probably feeling really lucky for not making a bad investment in this blundering economy.

[ralfthedog]

Yahoo as an independent company has some value. Yahoo owned by Microsoft has no value. If Yahoo Sells some advertising phrases to Google, Yahoo will survive and Google will have competition.

Remember, Google is not purchasing Yahoo. Google is not even buying part of Yahoo. Google will have no control of Yahoo. Yahoo is reserving the right to sell any search engine phrases to Google, but only if Google will pay more than Yahoo would otherwise make. Yahoo is not required to sell anything to google. Yahoo can walk away any time they want.

This is just a matter of one company selling a product to another company.