The Microsoft-Yahoo drama isn’t over yet. There’s a possible deal to be done in the form of Yahoo outsourcing or selling its search business to Microsoft.
At the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, Yahoo CFO Blake Jorgensen gave the audience reason to believe the search company is still open to negotiation.
“Key to any deal we might do would be full access to the data for intent,” Jorgensen said. “We’re not opposed to doing a deal that would maximize the business one way or the other, be it a partnership or a sale.”
On Thursday, a Yahoo filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that Jorgensen is leaving the company. Yahoo said it has begun a search for a new chief financial officer.
Microsoft Wants In
Yahoo execs aren’t the only ones leaving the door open. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on Tuesday indicated that his company is open to discussions about a search deal. Microsoft views Yahoo’s search assets as a way to accelerate its position in the marketplace and better compete with Google.
But Yahoo does have some concerns. “It is extremely difficult to draw a line down the middle of the organization and split it into two pieces,” Jorgensen told the conference. He referred to the impact of extracting Yahoo’s search business from the rest of its assets, which include a strong display-advertising business on a wide network of high-traffic consumer sites.
Yahoo has been pushing forward with search innovations. Earlier this month, Yahoo launched a rich-media offering that plays video in search results. And on Tuesday the company rolled out three new targeting products — Search Retargeting, Enhanced Retargeting, and Enhanced Targeting — for brand and performance marketers to help them reach the online audiences that matter most.
Search Retargeting is a customized display targeting solution…