I don't understand why Microsoft has to acquire yahoo. Most acquisitions are pretty disastrous in terms of clashing company cultures, new power struggles, and the best people of the acquired entity leaving.
The main argument for this acquisition seems to be "to compete with google", which further seems to boil down to "to compete with adsense".
Why then can't MS and yahoo just do a joint venture ad network to compete with adsense instead of MS trying to swallow yahoo whole?
My only "answer" is that MS a) has too much cash they need to get rid of (fast?), and b) doesn't realize that some people find them as repugnant as the proverbial creepy child-molesting uncle.
Bill could hang out on the sidewalk in front of Yahoo and hand out a billion bucks (total) in hiring bonuses to people who know how to spell "Java," and it'd be far, far cheaper.
well, this speaks directly towards the point you made about corporate culture clash, but Microsoft's culture places a lot of value on control, so it might not really be an option for them to put a deal in place withou control over it, and since Yahoo would be unlikely to agree to such a thing, acquisition is the only option in their eyes.
The main argument for this acquisition seems to be "to compete with google", which further seems to boil down to "to compete with adsense".
Why then can't MS and yahoo just do a joint venture ad network to compete with adsense instead of MS trying to swallow yahoo whole?
My only "answer" is that MS a) has too much cash they need to get rid of (fast?), and b) doesn't realize that some people find them as repugnant as the proverbial creepy child-molesting uncle.