Microsoft and Yahoo may remind some people of two cranky kids. When one wants to play, the other one doesn’t. With the possibility of an acquisition, it seems that Microsoft does not want to play:

“Steve Ballmer, chief executive of Microsoft, on Friday ruled out a full acquisition of Yahoo, though he left the door open to a deal that would involve a purchase of just its search business.

“We are not interested in going back and re-looking at an acquisition. I don’t know why they would be either, frankly,” he said at a conference in Australia, before adding: “I’m sure there are still opportunities for some kind of partnership around search.”"

link: Ballmer rules out new Yahoo bid

Does that “no” from Microsoft really mean “yes”? It is a corporate courtship dance between two firms that do not have a depth of fondness for one another. At this point, Microsoft and Yahoo need one another. Yahoo has become a vulnerable acquisition target. And Microsoft knows that it needs the boost from Yahoo in an attempt to catch Google. This posturing and ‘one-up-manship’ constitute part of a high stakes business strategy. Microsoft needs to stay competitive with Google - and a “no” to Yahoo at this point may be part of shrewd tactics.

Catherine Forsythe