YAHOO: Take Over Bids And Fines

Date Posted: 29 February 2008

It has been a turbulent month for Yahoo, who rebuffed an attempted bid from Microsoft and now faces a lawsuit over the handling of the offer.

Yahoo is not alone however, as Microsoft has also seen their fair share of mixed news coverage in February. The BrandIndex chart below tracks the events as they occurred throughout the month for both brands.

On the 3rd February, it was announced that analysts believed Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo would be approved, with both brands seeing an uplift in ‘Buzz’ score. On the 4th, Google expressed that they urge regulators to scrutinise Microsoft’s move; causing Microsoft’s score to drop. On the 5th, Rupert Murdoch ruled out a bid for Yahoo, causing the brands ‘Buzz’ score to drop. The 11th February saw both brands scores increase as Microsoft agreed to buy Danger Inc and Yahoo rejected Microsoft’s offer, claiming that it was ‘too low’.

On the 17th February, AOL was said to be contemplating an approach for Yahoo. Adversely, this caused Yahoo’s score to drop. Microsoft’s biggest drop of the month came on the 20th, as it became known that Microsoft looked set to oust the Yahoo board in a more aggressive approach to buy Yahoo. This drop in score for the brand was further compounded when it warned that some customers may find that the latest service pack update may cause other programs to stop working.

Finally, on the 27th February, Microsoft was fined a record $1.4bn for defying sanctions and it became apparent that Yahoo is to face law suits over the company’s handling of the failed Microsoft bid.

BrandIndex will continue to track these brands as it looks likely that they will remain in the news for the foreseeable future.

Richard Wood, BrandIndex Client Executive

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