Microsoft Wants Yahoo Again

Here we go again.  On again, off again, on again, off again.

Now a deal with Yahoo is potentially back on again, at least Microsoft seems open to it.

In a recent  interview, Kevin Turner, Microsoft’s Chief Operating Officer, dangled a carrot for Carol Bartz, Yahoo’s new CEO.  Turner wanted to make it clear that a smaller deal regarding a search partnership would still be appealing to Microsoft.

“They have a new CEO, and she’s formulating her business plans,” Mr Turner said.

“We’ve certainly made her aware and the Yahoo! board aware that if they are ever interested in an opportunity to partner with them on search, we’d like to sit down and at least have the conversation. It has to make economic sense to both parties.”

Even though a joint venture could still happen, Microsoft is set to become a bigger player in the search wars.

Last week, we learned that Microsoft is testing a new search vehicle code-named kumo.com.

For years Microsoft has been struggling to catch up with Google, the runaway leader in the online search market.

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