Sunday, May 18, 2008
Microsoft on Yahoo: Internal Memo From Kevin Johnson
Just prior to Microsoft’s annual advertising conference advance08, Kevin Johnson, president of the company’s Platforms & Services division, sent the following strategy update to PSD employees:
From: Kevin Johnson
Sent: Sunday, May 18, 2008 1:30 PM
To: Platforms & Services Division
Subject: Online Services Strategy Update
We have been executing against the core strategy I first presented at our Financial Analyst Meeting in July 2007 to go after the growing opportunity in online services and advertising. Four pillars have formed the basis of our strategy:
- Consolidate ad platform and win in display
- Innovate and disrupt in search
- Deliver end-to-end user experiences across PC, phone, and Web
- Reinvent portal and social media experiences
We have many options that support acceleration of our strategy. As announced earlier today, we are also considering new alternatives for a transaction with Yahoo! which do not involve a full acquisition. At this time, we have not made a new bid to acquire all of Yahoo!, but we reserve the right to reconsider that alternative depending on future developments and discussions that may take place with Yahoo!, shareholders of Yahoo! or Microsoft, or with other third parties.
