microhoo

Google came out swinging this week in defense of its controversial search advertising agreement with Yahoo.

The Internet search giant posted an FAQ on its proposed partnership and its affect on advertising prices on its public policy blog Thursday and followed it up with another posting Friday on its potential effect on competition.

In both cases, Google makes the argument that the deal would not harm competition nor lead to increased advertising prices.

But the blog postings were only part of its busy week. On Wednesday, Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt told reporters during a press conference that the company … Read more

A Wall Street analyst cut Yahoo's 12-month price target to $24 a share on Wednesday, citing a worsening economic climate and storm clouds on the horizon for future earnings growth.

Previously, Yahoo's 12-month price target was set at $26 a share by Jeffrey Lindsay, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., based on the controversial Yahoo-Google advertising search deal going through.

That report did little to cheer Yahoo's stock, which fell as low as $17.25 a share in early morning trading.

In the Sanford report, Lindsay said:

Our new valuation is based upon our pessimistic … Read more

Update at 3:03 p.m. PDT, with comments from the attorney general from the state of Connecticut, which is one of the lead states in the multistate antitrust review of the Yahoo-Google deal.

The Association of National Advertisers announced Sunday it sent a letter to the head of the antitrust division of the U.S. Department of Justice, citing its opposition to the controversial Yahoo-Google search advertising deal.

The ANA, a powerful group of more than 400 companies that spend more than $100 billion in marketing and commercial advertising, said it conducted a comprehensive and independent analysis of its … Read more

This post was updated at 1:12 p.m. PDT with the closing price of Yahoo's stock and other related information.

Yahoo closed at $17.75 a share Thursday, marking a new 52-week low for the Internet pioneer and raising the question of whether any near-term catalyst exists that could revive the battered stock.

Yahoo, which was Nasdaq's most actively traded company, closed down 5.38 percent over the previous day during the regular trading session.

The new figure is below the previous 52-week low of $18.58, which it reached in late January--just before Microsoft announced its … Read more

Updated at 11:39 a.m. PDT with comment from Yahoo.

While Wall Street and Google are betting that the search giant's controversial search advertising partnership with Yahoo will get the green light from antitrust regulators, caution may be in order as regulatory scrutiny intensifies in the coming weeks.

Antitrust regulators at both the state and federal level are rushing to gather information and complete their respective investigations as a number of tight deadlines approach, according to people familiar with the regulatory reviews.

Antitrust regulators, for one, are concerned there will be less choice for advertisers and pricing could be affected, … Read more

On Tuesday's edition of Daily Debrief, our Microsoft-Yahoo watcher Dawn Kawamoto talks with me about what has happened since Yahoo's well-documented August 1 shareholder meeting. Yahoo's stock price is nearing a 52-week low this week, but the herd of press and analysts covering the company are either on summer vacation or allowing Jerry Yang and his somewhat new board of directors a respite from their attention. Like other public companies, Yahoo lives by the financial quarter, so the watchers will be hovering as the quarter ends in September, speculating on how Yang and company perform now that … Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif.--Microsoft believes it's found a way to gain an edge against Google's dominant search engine: a deeper understanding of what people are searching for and what's on Web pages.

Specifically, the company believes examining a full sequence of user queries can lead to more useful results. Today, the company only keeps track of the immediately prior search, but often users use search engines to explore subject areas broadly, said Satya Nadella, senior vice president of Microsoft's search, portal and advertising platform group, at the Search Engine Strategies conference here.

"I believe this … Read more

It wasn't the world's worst-kept secret but it wins honorable mention.

As expected, Yahoo announced Thursday afternoon that it had appointed Frank J. Biondi Jr. and John H. Chapple to its board of directors.

This seemingly puts a final coda on the months-long Carl Icahn soap opera, which featured the billionaire investor's sundry attempts to take control -- or force a sale -- of the company. In the end, Icahn settled for a board seat for himself as well as Yahoo expanding the size of the board to accommodate two more directors. Yahoo agreed to select the … Read more

Update at 7:34 a.m. PDT on August 14: Frank Biondi Jr.'s decline comment has been added.

Yahoo is close to appointing John Chapple and Frank Biondi Jr. as its two additional board members, as it nears its Friday deadline to expand its board as part of a settlement agreement with activist investor Carl Icahn, according to sources.

The Internet company had agreed to select two candidates from a pool that included Icahn's former slate of dissident directors. Icahn was also appointed to Yahoo's board as part of the proxy battle-ending agreement.

"We know who … Read more