时事资讯:雅虎错失良机_时事_双语阅读-查字典英语网

时事资讯:雅虎错失良机

So much for Microsoft. What does Yahoo get?

Surprisingly little. It will receive an attractive 88% of the search revenue generated from traffic through its own sites, but that is still less than the 100% it used to get. And the revenue-share deal lasts 10 years, with certain changes kicking in halfway. After that, Yahoo might have a weaker hand to renegotiate.

Yahoo, in giving up on its own technology, will help reduce capital expenditure by about $200 million a year. And the company retains its relationship with key search advertisers, giving it some continuing control over the search business. Yahoo says the deal will boost operating cash flow by $275 million a year.

The transaction will probably get through regulatory scrutiny even though it will leave only two main competitors in most markets, because it would create a more serious challenger to Google. But the deal faces many months of scrutiny -- given the Department of Justice is getting tougher and Microsoft has faced years of regulatory issues in Europe. That, and the integration risk that will come afterward, gives Google plenty of opportunity to extend its market leadership in the meantime.

But the real disappointment for Yahoo shareholders is that the company threw away its trump card so cheaply. Microsoft needed Yahoo's search business for its longer-term strategic goal of competing with Google on the Internet. That should have allowed Yahoo to force a premium price. Instead, it squandered last year's approach.