BoomTown » D7

Liveblogging Yahoo's Third-Quarter Conference Call: Bartz "Came Down With Something," and CFO Carries On (and On and On and On)

Kara Swisher — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:15:15 +0000

Uh-oh, Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz was expected to appear on the Internet giant’s third-quarter earnings call, but she has apparently “came down with something,” according to CFO Tim Morse.

BoomTown is sending over chicken soup right now, but let’s hope she gets her vaccinations tout de suite!

Worst of all, no sassy quotes or cursing, replaced by a very earnest Morse, who sounded like he was once a Boy Scout.

After the markets closed, Yahoo reported better-than-expected earnings on still lackluster revenues.

Overall, the conference call boiled down to one quote from Morse that seems to have been selected as the Yahoo (YHOO) buzzword of the moment:

“The theme for third quarter was stabilization.”

2:02 pm PDT: Investor stuff from guy who sounded like a robot that I completely ignored, since I was much more interested in a conversation between two women about a bad date this past weekend, which I eavesdropped on in its entirety while liveblogging from a Starbucks (SBUX) in San Francisco.

By the way, the man whom the ladies are ripping was a very unstable date!

2:04 pm: Morse jumped on and gave everyone the bad news about Bartz being sick and the good news about the better-than-expected net income, while also updating all the various happenings of the quarter.

“I am happy to report that our Q3 revenue came in above our guidance range,” said Morse, who sounded somewhat jaunty.

Morse reeled off numbers, numbers and more numbers, some stuff about the new marketing campaign ($18 million spent so far and $45 million in the next quarter!) and other stuff about the cost cuts and fourth-quarter guidance.

Also, no sale of the company’s Alibaba in China or the Yahoo! Japan stake, thank you very much!

2:12 pm: Morse also gave a quick update about the search and online advertising partnership Yahoo has struck with Microsoft (MSFT).

His message: The Silicon Vally Internet icon is not out of search, because it is not about the algorithm, but a better search product.

Tim, you might want to roll that claim back, especially since you also might want to notice how well Google (GOOG) has done with its giant math-brains in the search business.

Morse tried mightily to channel Bartz on search, using a comparison she has made about the Intel (INTC) chip, which is widely used by computer makers. Said Morse, it’s the “differentiation” that matters!

I wonder if Yahoo will keep repeating that one, even as its search share continues to decline.

But Morse did make a funny about how many ex-Yahoos are on the Microsoft payroll now, so the partnership transition should go smoothly.

Well, there’s that!

2:28 pm: Morse mentioned Yahoo’s analysts day next week, and then opened up the call to questions.

Analysts always ask very dull questions at earnings calls and this one proved no different.

The first was about display run rate and about the search market in comparison to Google.

What’s the good word? Stabilization, of course!

The next question was about eBay (EBAY), which seems far from the point.

Morse agreed and cut it short.

Then, a question about guaranteed placement and stock buybacks. Zzzzzzzzz–even Morse sounded bored.

The Starbucks lovelorn ladies had left by now, so I was too.

2:37 pm: The next question concerned the affiliate business and how it might be affected by the Microsoft deal.

I immediately summoned the barista, since it was clearly time for a double espresso!

A question came next about when the display ad business would recover from the econalypse. Morse: Stabilization!

Then, a query about gross margins and whether they can be maintained. Morse was not saying, except to point out that there was a “good, old-fashioned, get-your-hands-dirty” attitude at work at Yahoo now about watching costs.

I was suddenly worried about dirty-handed Yahoos, just when the CEO is sick!

Use Purell, please–or suffer the wrath of Judy!

2:43 pm: Another question on ad sales and quality. Thus, I moved onto mainlining coffee beans en masse. I long for a visit from Juan Valdez!

Then, a question about Q4 guidance, which was not good enough for one analyst, who wanted more.

Morse did not really bite, although he talked a lot.

Next, a question about slow-growing page views and what was Yahoo planning to sell of its various assets.

Morse tried to be all silver-lining about page views and would not talk about specific divestitures (nor did he mention the appointment of a new head of Yahoo M&A).

“We continue to look at the landscape,” he said.

What about more job cuts or hiring, since Yahoo added 200 people in the quarter? Morse noted Yahoo was staying strong in tech talent and was “putting feet on the street” in advertising.

Also something about paid inclusion, but a new person at Starbucks was having a really good cellphone argument, so I zoned out of Morse-talk for a second!

2:56 pm: A question about premium and nonpremium inventory. Looks good on premium, said Morse.

The next query was about the different metrics between the new and old homepage, as well as a request for more info about the analyst day next week.

Morse refused to “steal my own thunder” on what is going to happen there. But, there will be thunder? I am always dubious when it comes to Yahoo and thunder.

As for the homepage, Morse said Yahoo was still evaluating the performance.

2:58 pm: Mobile. Aaaaaghhh, another chance for Morse to say not much about anything substantive. Morse: Better and more established! Translation: No moolah yet!

A head count question. Will improvement come from cost cuts due to the Microsoft deal or revenue improvements?

Three guesses and the first two don’t count. Thanks for the row-boatloads of money, Microsoft!

Something about bookings and small-to-medium businesses. Morse did not understand the question and neither did I.

Next, a question on search monetization, which has weakened. Answer: Stabilization!

3:02 pm: A question about the new $100 million branding campaign. Morse: “It’s very, very early.”

Some deal question and then one about behaviorial targeting, which Morse said will apparently be a “lifeblood” of the future.

Incredibly, Morse has gone hog-wild chatty with Bartz laid low and is asking for more questions, without making one good joke or salty remark yet.

I was completely losing it when it gets to ad exchange details and not as coffee-saturated as I needed to be.

Finally, the LAST question: Another one about divestiture and acquisition.

As if Morse was going to answer, referring instead–as he has many times in the call–to his “script.” Yahoo will buy stuff, Yahoo will sell stuff, but pretty much a no-comment!

And on that note…Carol: Please, pretty please GET WELL SOON!

Until then, here is a minidose of Bartz, via video snippets from an interview with me at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference.

Her lively tone seen here at D7 would have been a good thing at today’s earnings call:

[ See post to watch video ]

(And, here is a link to Yahoo’s presentation of its financial highlights, for those with a hankering for even more numbers.)

As Traffic Booms, Is HuffPo Ready to Make Some Real Dough?

Kara Swisher — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:21:53 +0000

For the past few months, the Huffington Post has been on a bit of a tear–both in terms of traffic gains and in its hiring of some big talent for key positions.

Now, those execs are focusing on using that consumer momentum to achieve what has eluded the Huffington Post thus far: Making some serious bank from the privately held news and media site.

How to help marketers to better understand the site and, therefore, spur this significant monetization will be his main focus at the Huffington Post, said Greg Coleman to BoomTown in an interview over the weekend.

Coleman–a former Yahoo (YHOO) advertising exec, as well as one for Time Warner (TWX) online unit AOL–was named president and chief revenue officer a month ago by Huffington Post’s new CEO, Eric Hippeau.

Hippeau, who was himself just appointed in June, is another well-known online media exec and has been a big investor and board member of the Huffington Post. (You can read a thorough interview by Staci Kramer with Hippeau on paidContent.)

“It’s important for advertisers to know how big we have gotten, while also highlighting this amazing audience of influencers we have gathered,” said Coleman, in his first media chitchat since taking on the job. “I think it is the beginning of a tipping point.”

Well, of course, Coleman would say that, as the guy looking to drum up interest among marketers in spending their money on the Huffington Post.

But stats seem to indicate that consumers are increasingly liking what the Huffington Post is creating, because it is starting to surpass some well-known media icons on the Web in traffic.

While more of this increase is going to be due to a socialization of the news–the Huffington Post has an aggressive deployment of Facebook Connect called HuffPost Social News–the growth is more about building a brand people trust and seek out.

According to recent reports from both comScore (SCOR) and Nielsen Online, for example, the site just became larger than several online brands of big media companies, such as the Washington Post (WPO), in terms of unique monthly visitors.

In its September report, Nielsen clocked the Huffington Post at 9.47 million uniques, up 26 percent, while the Post site was at 9.2 million–a drop of 30 percent.

According to the Nielsen, the Huffington Post is within spitting distance of USA Today’s Web site (9.9 million), a Gannett (GCI) property.

And, it is bigger than Hearst Newspapers Digital (7.9 million) and the BBC (7.2 million).

For September, comScore has the Huffington Post (at 6.83 million) besting the Post (6.77 million)–as well as WSJ.com (6.7 million), a unit of Dow Jones, which is owned by News Corp. (NWS).

(The Wall Street Journal site, to be fair, makes a chunk of its revenue from subscription fees, rather than relying solely on advertising from traffic like the Huffington Post. And full disclosure: Dow Jones owns this site.)

In any case, big traffic is key for most news sites, and internal numbers from Google (GOOG) Analytics that Huffington Post execs cite are higher, as is typical for most sites, pegging traffic at about 27 million monthly uniques with more than two million reader comments per month.

Huffington Post co-founder and blogging icon Arianna Huffington attributes the recent boost in traffic to the site’s proclivity to “start conversations” that interest readers, such as her recent suggestion that Vice President Joe Biden should resign.

“We are aiming to go beyond just facts, to create a narrative,” said Huffington, who thinks the speed of news helps attract visitors to the site. “We think bringing journalism to a new level is exactly what people are looking for.”

Perhaps. But, even if traffic increases continue to bear her theories out, she and others have said that the Huffington Post still has not been regularly profitable despite doubling annual revenue–mostly in advertising–to what some estimate to be about $8 million in 2009.

While the site is aiming to invest rather than focus too hard on showing profits, Coleman said he would like to make revenue seven times larger in the next years, building on the performance of the site to vaunt past old media giants online.

“This kind of thing is a milestone for the marketing community,” he said. “Our goal is to be the top Internet newspaper, and this points out that we are on our way.”

To do that, he will have to spend some of the $37 million in funding that the Huffington Post has raised from venture investors.

While the edit side is using the money to expand the number of news categories, Coleman said his focus will be on building a higher caliber team of sales and marketing execs with deeper relationships to big clients.

“Unlike selling an auto page on Yahoo (YHOO), our site has a more complex sales process that takes some time for people to understand,” said Coleman. “But once they get it, it should be an easier sale.”

Until then, check out the video of the entire interview I did at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference with Huffington and Washington Post publisher Katharine Weymouth in which they talk about the future of journalism and more:

[ See post to watch video ]

The Yahoo Ad Campaign Creative We'd Like to See

Kara Swisher — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:41:13 +0000

Yahoo introduced its new $100 million marketing and branding campaign in New York today with “It’s Y!ou” as the new motto, making use of the Internet giant’s famous exclamation point.

Sure, it’s clever and all, but BoomTown felt the need to jump in and help Yahoo (YHOO), since our posts have been a little tough when it has come to the Silicon Valley icon’s tumultuous ride over the last two years.

So, while CEO Carol Bartz (pictured above as a giant lady on the Nasdaq Jumbotron in Times Square) explained–as reported by MediaMemo’s Peter Kafka–that “Yahoo is the only site where you when you wake up in the morning and you want to know what’s going on everywhere about everything, you can find it one place,” I’d say there’s more to the brand that just that!

In fact, there’s Bartz herself, a sassy and ofttimes salty exec whose pugnacious utterances have become legend quickly.

Today, for example, when asked about a comparison with its search rival, she noted, “Why not be cynical about fricking Google?”

That was mild in comparison to her cursing me out at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference when she thought I was insinuating she was too old to be an Internet exec (you can see that exchange in the video below).

Thus, please take a gander at our branding effort for Yahoo below.

(While Yahoo has Ogilvy & Mather to do its work, ATD has the very clever Photoshop stylings of Digital Daily’s John Paczkowski to work our marketing magic.)

Best of all, you can switch out the picture and moniker to denote any Yahoo foe–Google (GOOG); Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer if he does not behave in the new search-partnership deal; billionaire investor and Yahoo board member Carl Icahn; and more!

Fondly dedicated to Carol–and the rest of the Yahoo crew, especially Judy–here’s our ad (click on the image to make it larger):

And here is Bartz in action at D7, cussing me out at 00:57 in the video of the interview:

[ See post to watch video ]

Teeny-Tiny Pixi Phone From Palm Tries Killing Giant Hype for Apple Event Today

Kara Swisher — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:53:04 +0000

Oh, BoomTown fears this is not going to end well for the weensy little smart phone Palm is debuting today on–what an amazing coincidence!–the very same day Apple is throwing its big product bash in San Francisco, at which Mac fanboys fervently hope that Supreme Leader Steve Jobs might even appear.

You don’t step on the Superman of Silicon Valley’s cape, of course, but the device with the aggressively cute name of Pixi is apparently attempting just that.

Thus, this fairytale might have a not-so-happy ending.

In any case–reminding BoomTown simultaneously of an unfortunate haircut I had at seven years old, those sticky sticks of powdered candy and, of course, Tinkerbell–Pixi seems to be a smaller, less featured and cheaper version of the Palm (PALM) Pre device.

Except super-adorably skinny and featuring “Sex-and-the-City”-style fashionable back covers by artists.

(Paging Roger McNamee: Where is the mirror, please, because–as you insisted to me in an interview at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference, the ladies love it!)

Pixi uses the Palm webOS platform and other software from third parties, such as Facebook and Yahoo (YHOO).

The Pixi is seen here trying to flirt with a manly cup of coffee, with more images posted below, which you can click on to make larger–although not much larger since it is a pixie, for goodness sake!

Palm said the Pixi is scheduled to be available exclusively from Sprint (S) in time for the holidays (you can read more details in the full press release below).

But the launch today is clearly a happily-ever-after play–one that will surely cause Palm to catch all kinds of flak, if anyone actually pays any sustained attention today to Pixi given the outsized focus on whatever innovation in the iPod or iPhone or iTunes that Apple (AAPL) might or might not announce.

And, if Jobs does appear, all geek hell is sure to break loose and Palm staffers can pretty much quit for the day and go see “Julie & Julia” to familiarize themselves with the Pixi demographic.

By way of explanation, a Palm source wrote in an email to me last night, “timing’s a funny thing,” noting that this event has been long-planned to align with the demo debut of Pixi at Palm-sponsored Fashion Week in New York next week.

While one has to admire its minuscule chutzpah at going up against the Jobs-fueled juggernaut–a move even Google (GOOG) mobile plotter-in-chief Vic Gundotra wouldn’t attempt so overtly–let’s not hope the Pixi gets lost in the Apple sauce.

(Okay, sue me, but that line was too good to resist.)

Here are some more images to peruse, and below them, the full press release on the Pixi from Palm:

Thin Palm Pixi Phone Puts Fast, Intuitive Communication at Fingertips

Palm’s Thinnest Phone Yet Expands Palm webOS Line with Customizable Style

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Sep 09, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE)–Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ:PALM) today introduced the Palm(R) Pixi(TM) phone for faster, more intuitive and personal communication in a compact and customizable design.(1) With the instinctively useable Palm webOS(TM) platform, strikingly thin design, a visible full keyboard and fashionable personalization options, Palm Pixi lets you express yourself in amazingly useful ways. It’s scheduled to be available exclusively from Sprint in time for the holidays.

“With Palm webOS, we’re creating a new, more intuitive smartphone experience defined by unmatched simplicity and usefulness,” said Jon Rubinstein, Palm chairman and chief executive officer. “Palm Pixi brings this unique experience to a broader range of people who want enhanced messaging and social networking in a design that lets them express their personal style.”

In addition to linking your information from Google(TM), Facebook and Exchange ActiveSync, Palm Pixi adds Yahoo! and LinkedIn integration to Palm Synergy(TM) and assembles it all in a single view.(2) You can get your Yahoo! contacts, calendar and IM, and access to your LinkedIn contacts, including job titles. Synergy on Palm Pixi makes messaging easier by showing you all your conversations with the same person in one chat-style thread, so you can start a conversation on AIM Instant Messenger, Google Talk(TM) or Yahoo! Messenger and continue it by text message later.(3)

Complementing the phone’s already rich Facebook integration with the contacts, phone, calendar and photo applications, a new Facebook application will be available with Palm Pixi so you can see and comment on all the latest news from your friends, as well as easily update your status. The phone’s full QWERTY keyboard puts it all at your fingertips, and the multi-touch screen lets you move back and forth between open applications using natural gestures.(4) The unique removable back cover is rubberized, making it scratch-resistant, slip-resistant and durable.

Personalization with Style

For those who want to express themselves with some extra style, Palm is introducing the Palm Pixi Artist Series. Designed by some of today’s most unique and compelling artists, these numbered, limited-edition back covers let you change designs to suit your mood. You can see the first collection in the series, as well as information about the artists, at www.palm.com/artistseries. Palm will be showcasing the fashionable new Palm Pixi with the Artist Series covers this week at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York (Sept. 10-17).

You can also tailor Palm Pixi to your interests with downloadable applications from the Palm Beta App Catalog, including the latest entertainment and social networking applications such as Local Concerts by iLike, and Yelp(TM).(5) You can use Palm media sync to customize your phone with music, photos and videos from iTunes (Versions 8.1.1-8.2.1)(6), or use the on-device Amazon MP3 store to purchase individual songs or full albums over-the-air.(3)

“Palm Pixi continues Sprint’s leadership in providing useful and innovative devices on America’s most dependable 3G network,”(7) said Dan Hesse, chief executive officer at Sprint. “We are pleased to be the first carrier to bring this device to market and offer both devices in the growing Palm webOS family. Sprint’s Everything Data plans, which provide unrestricted access to the Internet, mobile content and applications, and our Ready Now retail experience make for a perfect combination with these new Palm products.”

The Sprint Mobile Broadband Network reaches more than 271 million people, 18,652 cities and 1,838 airports, and Sprint’s networks are now performing at best-ever levels.

Customers who purchase Palm Pixi will benefit from Sprint’s Ready Now, which the company pioneered to help customers leave the store educated, comfortable and confident about the phones they’re taking home. It is like having a free personal trainer that educates you on all your phone can do by setting up all the applications you want to use on the device.

Palm Pixi is also the perfect complement to Sprint’s Simply EverythingSM plan, which provides unlimited nationwide calling, texting, email, social networking, web browsing, GPS navigation, Sprint TV, streaming music, NFL Mobile Live, NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile and much more for only $99.99 per month. It’s a savings of $1,200 over two years versus some comparable competitor plans.

Palm Pixi Features

High-speed connectivity (EVDO Rev. A)

2.63-inch multi-touch screen with a vibrant 18-bit color 320×400 resolution TFT display

Gesture area, which enables simple, intuitive gestures for navigation

Exposed QWERTY keyboard for fast messaging

Robust messaging support (IM, SMS and MMS capabilities), including Google Talk, AIM and Yahoo! IM

High-performance, desktop-class web browser

Integrated GPS(8)

Multimedia options, including pictures, video playback and music, and featuring a 2-megapixel fixed-focus camera with LED flash, and a standard 3.5mm headset jack

Email, including Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) (for access to corporate Microsoft Exchange servers), as well as personal email support (Google push, Yahoo! push, POP3, IMAP)(9)

Bluetooth(R) 2.1 + EDR with A2DP stereo Bluetooth support

8GB of internal user storage (~7GB user available)(10)

USB mass storage mode

MicroUSB connector with USB 2.0 Hi-Speed

The first handset to launch with Qualcomm’s high-performance MSM7627(TM) chipset

Proximity sensor, which automatically disables the touch screen and turns off the display whenever you put the phone up to your ear

Light sensor, which dims the display if the ambient light is dark, such as at night or in a movie theater, to reduce power usage

Accelerometer, which automatically orients web pages and photos to your perspective

Ringer switch, which easily silences the device with one touch

Removable, rechargeable 1150 mAh battery

Dimensions: 55mm (W) x 111mm (L) x 10.85mm (D) [2.17 in. (W) x 4.37 in. (L) x 0.43 in. (D)]

Weight: 99.5 grams (3.51 ounces)

Sprint services, including Sprint TV(R) and Sprint Radio, Sprint Navigation, Sprint’s exclusive NFL Mobile Live and NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile Live

Availability and Pricing

The Palm Pixi phone is scheduled to be available from Sprint in time for the holidays. Pricing for the phone, as well as the limited-edition Palm Pixi Artist Series covers, will be announced closer to availability. Customers who would like to register to receive additional information about Palm Pixi and be notified when it’s available can register at www.palm.com/pixi.

In addition, effective today the Palm Pre(TM) phone from Sprint is available for $149.99 with a two-year service agreement and after a $150 instant rebate and $100 mail-in rebate. You can find this great pricing at Sprint stores, on the web (www.sprint.com) and by calling Sprint’s telesales group (1-800-SPRINT1). With the new Palm Pixi phone, and Palm Pre at a lower price, Palm and Sprint are bringing greater choice of Palm webOS phones to a larger audience.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Photos and video are available from Palm’s media gallery at www.palm.com/mml.

Please add the tag #Palm #Pixi to your tweets or “Palm Pixi” to your blog posts about the all-new Palm Pixi phone running on Palm webOS, and follow Palm on Twitter at www.twitter.com/palm.

(1) Within wireless coverage area only. Email, mobile number, and related information required for setup and activation. Required data plan not included; unlimited plan strongly recommended.
(2) Limitations apply. Layered calendars and linked contacts for Outlook require Exchange ActiveSync and Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 SP2 or later, sold separately.
(3) Within wireless coverage area only.
(4) Performance varies based upon actual usage.
(5) Third-party software available separately. Within wireless coverage area only.
(6) Compatible with iTunes 8.2.1 on Windows XP/Vista and Mac OS X version 10.3.9-10.5.7. Within wireless coverage area only. Music sold separately. Please respect copyright laws when downloading music.
(7) “Dependable” based on independent, third-party drive tests for 3G data connection success, session reliability and signal strength for the top 50 most populous markets from Jan. ‘08 to Feb. ‘09. Not all services available on 3G and coverage may default to separate network when 3G unavailable.
(8) Coverage not available in all areas at all times.
(9) Outlook requires Exchange ActiveSync and Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 SP2 or later, sold separately.
(10) Storage estimate subject to change based on system software and application usage.

If Some Dad's Rants on Twitter Can Go Viral, My Mom Needs to Turbo-Tweet

Kara Swisher — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 13:43:00 +0000

Oh, dear; now my mom is going to be really pissed at me for not making her a Twitter sensation.

Unlike, according to a very amusing article in The Wall Street Journal yesterday, Justin Halpern–who has been tweeting wacky quips uttered by his dad without him knowing much about it, under the handle: @s—mydadsays.

And, lo and behold, with only 28 tweets, the cranky 73-year-old has attracted almost 250,000 followers, after a spate of media attention and retweeting.

Some tweets included:

“Don’t touch the bacon, it’s not done yet. You let me handle the bacon, and i’ll let you handle…what ever it is you do. I guess nothing.”

“You know, sometimes it’s nice having you around. But now ain’t one of those times. Now gimmie the remote we’re not watching this bullshit.”

“What are you listening to?…I know who Hall & Oates are god dammit. It’s the mustache guy and the gay man.”

The tweets have caused such a hubbub that Halpern has been approached by book agents, publishers and producers.

Rut-roh, since my brother and I did the same thing at Walt Mossberg’s and my D: All Things Digital conference, typing up my mother’s observations of some of Silicon Valley’s poobahs and more in 140 characters.

We did so after she expressed her distaste of Twitter in a video I showed before interviewing its founders, Biz Stone and Evan Williams, onstage (see below).

Here is the account name: @luckyd7.

Some of her 40 tweets (which, I hate to admit, I have not updated since mid-June):

“I’m going to bed. Why would anybody care about that!”

“Kara says ashton kutcher twitters. So what! His claim to fame is he married someone eighteen years older.”

“Just met the twitter guys. They are so cute. I’m embarrassed.”

“Oh my god! Kara put my wedding portrait as my twitter picture. Then again, I did look fabulous.”

“Steve Ballmer just announced the name of his new search program. Bing! I don’t like it. It’s stupid. Reminds me of the Sopranos.”

Obviously, to catch Mr. Halpern, I am going to have to up my game and start stalking my mother for spicier fare–because from the mouths of parents, ofttimes come gems.

Until then, here she is in that Twitter-bashing video:

[ See post to watch video ]

For Shame: The Congo Nightmare Continues

Kara Swisher — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:09:18 +0000

Eve Ensler, playwright, activist and creator of V-Day, appeared at the the seventh D: All Things Digital conference in late May to talk about the links between what goes into making mobile phones and human rights violations.

There, Ensler (pictured above) shed much needed light on the dire situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where some of the worst atrocities are now being committed on the population in a terrible civil war.

She predicted it would get worse without massive international intervention.

Tragically, she was right.

Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that rapes of women were escalating dramatically–if that is even possible considering past devastation–in the Congo.

Reported the Post:

“An already staggering epidemic of rape has become markedly worse since the January deployment of tens of thousands of poorly trained, poorly paid Congolese soldiers, with people in front-line villages such as this one saying the soldiers are not so much hunting rebels as hunting women.”

It follows another recent report by the New York Times about the rise of rapes of men too.

Today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in the Congo, where she unveiled a $17 million plan to battle sexual violence in the country.

She said the situation was “evil in its basest form”

Ensler’s aim is to end the use of rape as a weapon of war there, which is, in part, a consequence of the region’s coltan trade. Coltan, or columbite tantalite, is a mineral essential to the manufacture of a wide array of consumer electronics, such as mobile phones and laptops.

Clinton mentioned these “conflict minerals” during her visit.

To learn more about a shameful situation that needs immediate attention, I urge you to watch the video interview from D7 with me, which you can see in its entirety below.

And then visit the V-Day site on the dire situation in the Congo to learn what you can do to help.

Here is the Ensler interview:

[ See post to watch video ]

Mark Cuban Makes the Best Point of All About Charging for Content: Use Your Imagination!

Kara Swisher — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 13:17:53 +0000

Yesterday–in a somewhat rambling but also riveting blog post about charging for content–serial entrepreneur and perennial gadfly Mark Cuban made a very important point that execs at every large media company should take to heart as they try to cope with the digital challenge.

Use your noggins, why dontcha?

Cuban aimed the piece at News Corp. head Rupert Murdoch, who has been the most vocal media mogul of late about the issue of getting paid online for the copious amount of original content the various parts of the media giant he runs make.

(Such as this site, which is owned by Dow Jones, which is owned by News Corp.)

“Rupert, you didn’t ask my opinion on this, but since when has that ever stopped me,” wrote Cuban in his post titled “My Advice to Fox & MySpace on Selling Content–Yes You Can.” “First the good news. You can sell content on the internet. People pay for content on and off the internet every second of every day. It’s easy to do. If you do it right.”

Then, Cuban followed up with a long series of suggestions–in general, Cuban had more interesting ideas in one post than I have collectively heard in a while.

Like all good brainstorms, some are defensive moves, some offensive, some very interesting and some probably unworkable.

But, in this time of massive change, all are well worth considering because Cuban’s piece had the feel of throwing a whole bunch of ideas on the table and just knocking anything around–with the goal of creating a more important sense of discovery and entrepreneurialism.

It’s kind of like that great scene in the movie, “Apollo 13,” when the engineers had to come up with a solution for a dire problem, so they threw a pile of doodads on the table and started tinkering fast.

I dearly hope that is precisely what’s going on inside all the various media companies as they seek to maneuver the storm-tossed seas of change they find themselves in instead of the more typical inclination to throw blame in a time of crisis.

The problem, as it always turns out, is that industries in trouble always tend to shoot down ideas as they arise rather than embrace even the truly insane ones–one of which might turn out to be the innovation needed.

As Cuban correctly pointed out, that is often due to infighting at big corporations.

To the negative, I saw that up close and personal a half-dozen years ago as AOL was systematically dismembered at Time Warner (TWX), due to very real wounds from the disastrous merger, at the exact moment when everyone should have been pulling for it.

To the positive, it is clear that the many failings of Microsoft (MSFT) in the search game were what finally got it to take a greenfields approach with its recently announced Bing, which is finally a competitive product.

I like that kind of gumption, and it was nice to see that in just one blog post Cuban could come up with at least 10 ideas, many of which would doubtlessly not fly.

In fact, after one, Cuban wrote: “I don’t know if it will work, but it is sure worth exploring!”

It sure is.

Here is that clip from “Apollo 13,” as well as the full video of the interview Walt Mossberg and I did with the voluble Cuban on the issues facing media giants at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference in May:

Apollo 13

Cuban at D7

[ See post to watch video ]

"Boatloads of Money" Brings Boatloads of Trouble to Yahoo's Bartz: The D7 Video (Plus How the Deal Almost Sank)

Kara Swisher — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 08:16:27 +0000

One of the reasons Wall Street investors have gone sour on Yahoo’s stock since its online advertising and search deal with Microsoft was announced is due a much-repeated comment that CEO Carol Bartz made at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference in late May.

In an onstage interview with me, I asked Bartz about how talks with Microsoft (MSFT)–about which I had reported a lot–were going and what it would take to do a deal.

She answered quite emphatically that “if there’s boatloads of money, and there’s the right technology and there’s the right information we’d have, sure.” Bartz repeated “boatload of money” soon after.

And, since she said that’s what she wanted, Wall Street had expected such a windfall immediately in the deal.

But, with no upfront payment forthcoming–despite the fact that Bartz said she opted for money over a longer timeframe via better search monetization from Microsoft–Yahoo (YHOO) has seen its shares get pummeled.

The stock was down 12 percent when the deal was signed Tuesday and almost four percent today, giving up a lot of the gains that have been made since Bartz came on board in January.

Ironically, in an interview with me right after the deal was struck, both Bartz and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told me it was at a meeting they had at D7 that they decided to call an end to the talks that had been going on since March.

The reason was that a plan to also share display advertising was on the table and it had added a level of complexity that was too hard to bridge.

“We agreed to walk away, the game was over,” said Bartz. “It was our ‘hasta luego.’”

Well, not for long, as the execs under them both regrouped and came up with the simpler search plan–a deal that Yahoo investors are still unsatisfied with.

Now, it will be up the Bartz to convince them that their ship will–eventually–come in.

Until then, here’s the “boatloads of money” video clip:

[ See post to watch video ]

Liveblogging the Yahoo-Microsoft Search Deal Conference Call: The Carol and Steve Show Debuts!

Kara Swisher — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:32:17 +0000

BoomTown was so glad we had this time together with Yahoo (YHOO) CEO Carol Bartz and Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer, just to have a laugh or sing a song about a major Web search and advertising deal.

I liveblogged the conference call, which I updated as it happened.

Did Ballmer scream and jump up and down? Did Carol say something naughty?

Or as the companies said:

SUNNYVALE, Calif. & REDMOND, Wash., Jul 29, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE)–Yahoo! Inc. and Microsoft will host a conference call for accredited media and financial and industry analysts at 8:30 a.m. ET/5:30 a.m. PT today, July 29, 2009, to discuss the search agreement the companies recently announced. In addition, b-roll footage will be available. The satellite feed of b-roll footage will contain broadcast footage of remarks from Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, as well as corporate Yahoo! and Microsoft b-roll footage.

B-roll? More like, were Bartz and Ballmer on a roll?

To find out, read on!

5:28 am PDT: It was EARLY on the West Coast and we were being forced at first to listen to really sleepy music like you might hear in a dentist’s office.

Zzzzzzzzz…

5:34 am PDT: Memo Impresario Eric Brown was late! But, as soon as he gets on, the new Yahoo PR head began with an enthusiastic hello about the deal.

Bartz was up first, followed by Ballmer. They were clearly together in the same place, likely in Silicon Valley at some bunker.

“This is a great day for Yahoo,” she said. “It’s a game-changer and I am glad to finally be able to talk to you about it.”

Her patter was clearly scripted, but Bartz was pretty jaunty in her delivery.

And sassy enough to make the first of many dings to former Yahoo savior Google (GOOG)–not by name, but as either “the market leader” or “the competitor.”

Why not just go right to calling the search giant this deal is aimed at battling what Bartz really meant: The Borg.

Bartz stressed that this deal only covers search and the search ad business and not, say, display advertising.

And, she added, while Microsoft’s AdCenter technology will power the money-making, “search will continue to be an integral part of the Yahoo consumer experience.”

Boiling it down, Bartz said: “What this deal is really about for everyone is scale.”

Cue the next Google dig: “The combination of Microsoft and Yahoo search puts the choice back into the hands of consumers, increasingly concerned about the influence of a single player.”

Single player=Darth Vader.

5:40 am PDT: Ballmer was next. “I am so delighted to see [the deal] come to fruition,” he said.

He does not say much more except that he hoped it would “flourish and come to life over the many years.”

Ballmer sounded like someone speaking at a ribbon cutting of a copy store at the mall.

The livelier Bartz came back on, discussing the terms, hewing pretty much to what was already in the press release.

Microsoft’s AdCenter as technology. Integration. 10 years. No display deal. Separate user experience.

Now to the bucks, as Bartz noted, they add $500 million to Yahoo’s operating income, save $200 million in capital expenditures and improve annual operating cash flow by $275 million.

“At its full implementation,” she added. There is always a catch!

Bartz said Yahoo would use the money to invest in its other properties, although she was not specific.

Then, it was onto regulatory issues and getting this party started.

Bartz put on the brakes. “This deal will not happen overnight,” she said.

Actually, not even close. She predicted a closing in early 2010 and it being rolled out over the following three to six months.

Finally, Bartz thanked the tireless teams who did the deal. “With a lot of help from Steve and I,” she said and then quipped, “not always so.”

She and Ballmer were now sounding like a hip mom and dad.

5:45 am PDT: Question time!

The first one was about why the pair did not do a display deal and also how they were going to bridge the huge gap in how much each made per search compared to each other and Google.

Bartz said that the point was to keep the deal idiot-proof. “Frankly, we wanted it as straightforward and simple as possible,” she said.

Ballmer concurred: “We are taking a big bite here.”

As to the earnings gap in search, he said, “The deal in and of itself will let us close gap with the market leader.”

Ballmer tried not to say the word “Google,” but stumbled and did anyway.

The next question was about Bartz’s shift from her “boatloads of cash” quote–which she said, in an interview with me at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference in late May, was a must for a deal with Microsoft–to her new “boatloads of value.”

Simple, she said, trying to gloss it over–Yahoo did not need a big cash payment up front (and it did not get it either).

“As far as we are concerned, the boatload of cash is us preserving our revenue line,” said Bartz.

The next question was about what Microsoft gets out of this deal.

“We clearly see an upside as execution really builds,” said Ballmer.

After more money questions, there is finally one on regulator issues.

Back to Google-bashing from Ballmer.

“I suspect the competitor who may not like more competition is Google,” he said.

Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith then jumped in and talked about working together and filings in D.C. and making the case.

He said he “looks forward to the debate,” which is just what a lawyer would say.

5:58 am PDT: Finally, the layoff question.

Bartz is clear here. Some Yahoo search employees will be dragooned over to Microsoft, some will move to other parts of Yahoo and some will be let go.

“Unfortunately, there are some redundancies,” said Bartz.

More financial questions, one on the mobile search market, one on innovation, one on scale and one on advertisers.

“Advertisers, especially smaller ones, want to make sure there is enough meaningful market for them and they don’t want to learn three platforms,” said Bartz. “They know how to enter into the Google system.”

She said “Google system” like she was talking about a gulag.

Meanwhile, Ballmer talked about how good it was to now be No. 2. Really, he did, since he was a distant No. 3 before this deal.

6:11 am PDT: Some technology question. Ballmer noted that the deal was not a “rip and replace” of Yahoo’s search for Microsoft. It will be an “integration.”

Next was a question about how this deal measured up to last year’s more money-laden offer by Microsoft.

Bartz said she didn’t just want an upfront payment, but a “true partnership,” with control over the Yahoo user interface and “real skin in the game.”

Ballmer called last year’s deal more investor-focused than operational. “The deal was different for Microsoft, not better,” he said, leaving out the cheaper part.

Finally, I get called on, and ask about who will lead the integration and how it will get done, so as not to create a huge distraction.

Bartz said it would be a “smooth transition…not that different from when Yahoo went from Overture to Panama.”

I did not have the heart to tell her that the transition of the Yahoo ad platform was anything but smooth and one of the reasons Yahoo got into the trouble it has gotten in.

Ballmer noted that the leadership that put together the deal is the leadership of the companies in the digital arena.

I also asked how the deal finally came together, especially after such historical rancor.

“It was like a snowball down a hill,” said Bartz.

But it was also a complex ball of ice, she added, noting “it was not a two-page term sheet.”

More like hundreds of pages. “There was not a high level of abstraction,” said Ballmer.

Finally, finding a kind of married groove–from that time before the random bickering sets in–Bartz noted that “dating is one thing, but having a partnership is another.”

She added: “The good news once we reached a point we believed to be advantageous, [we did a deal]…that’s how partnerships work.”

Well, exactly how it all works out, of course, still remains to be seen.

Yahoo to Get 110 Percent of Search Revenue in First Two Years of Deal With Microsoft

Kara Swisher — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 05:17:02 +0000

[CORRECTION: My sources, unusually reliable, were off on the 110 percent figure; as announced by Yahoo and Microsoft, "Microsoft will pay traffic acquisition costs (TAC) to Yahoo! at an initial rate of 88 percent of search revenue generated on Yahoo!'s O&O sites during the first five years of the agreement."]

Oh, the details keep rolling in about the terms of the Yahoo-Microsoft online advertising and search deal, which is expected to be announced sometime tomorrow.

According to several sources close to the situation, as part of the pending deal–in which Yahoo (YHOO) would sell search advertising for its sites and some of Microsoft’s, while Microsoft’s Bing search technology would power it–Yahoo would get to keep pretty much all the revenue and even more for the next three years.

This might be the “boatloads of money” that Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz said–in an interview with me at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference in May–the company needed to strike the partnership with Microsoft (MSFT).

Sources said that in the first two years of the deal, Yahoo would keep 110 percent of all revenue. And, in the third, Yahoo would get 90 percent.

That could represent many billions of dollars, since Yahoo will be selling for both.

For Microsoft, the payment will–within four years–allow the software giant to become the de facto No. 2 search technology player after Google (GOOG).

It is not clear if there have been any guarantees on revenue made by Microsoft, but there is no upfront payment being paid to the Silicon Valley-based Yahoo.

As previously reported, the pair have reached an agreement that would link the Internet giants into close partnership.

More to come as it develops, of course–as I wing my way to the Pacific Northwest for Microsoft’s annual meeting for analysts on Thursday in order to annoy as many top execs as possible.

And, in case you are interested, here is a highlights video of the interview that I did with Bartz at D7, in which she talks about Microsoft and more:

[ See post to watch video ]

Exclusive: Twitter to Debut a New Main Homepage Next Week

Kara Swisher — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 02:26:44 +0000

Twitter will unveil a new main homepage next week at Twitter.com, said co-founder Biz Stone, in order “to better show who we are.”

In an interview with BoomTown this afternoon, Stone said the current page is essentially confusing to the masses of people who come to it, made aware of the microblogging service by the massive media hype it has received over the last year.

People arriving at the new main homepage will be greeted by a search box, information on Twitter trends and a panoply of more specific information about how they can use Twitter.

“You can try it out without having to sign up, so you can get an idea of what Twitter is before you use it,” said Stone. “We need to do a better job of explaining ourselves to people who hear about us and then have no idea what do to.”

Stone is right.

As you can see below (click on the image to make it larger), the current main homepage is pretty lame now, with a picture of a bird on a branch, some cursory explanatory what-why-how information, a link to a video and some media kudos, as well as an ability to sign on.

Stone said the goal is to make the page as lively as Twitter is.

“We have to turn a lot of awareness into engagement,” said Stone. “Our front page is not reflective of that right now.”

Thus, the San Francisco-based company has redone its homepage to be more interactive.

Said Stone: “We want it to show us as a place where people can discover what is going on in real-time and much more.”

It’s an interesting move for Twitter since the service could use a more robust homepage to give it more of a unified feeling.

Currently, users interact only with their own pages and do not use any central Twitter hub.

Eventually, although Stone did not say this was a goal, Twitter could use a more programmed homepage to feature popular subjects, tweets and more.

Part of the effort to make Twitter understandable is a new site called “Twitter 101,” which Stone said was to give companies a way to understand how to use Twitter.

(You can see the site here.)

In a blog post on Twitter 101 today, Stone wrote:

“We coordinated with business students and writers to surface some interesting findings, best practices, steps for getting started, and case studies. The results demonstrate how customers are getting value out of Twitter and suggest techniques businesses can employ to enhance that value. While this work was envisioned for businesses, it’s also useful for anyone using Twitter so have a look if you like.”

As an added bonus, here is a full video of Stone and Twitter CEO Evan Williams talking about the innovative start-up in an onstage interview with Walt Mossberg and me at the D: All Things Digital conference in late May:

[ See post to watch video ]

Yahoo Search Ad Deal With Microsoft "Down to the Short Strokes"–But Caution Also Advised

Kara Swisher — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 02:49:29 +0000

Unless there is some major glitch, there might finally be a search and online advertising deal struck between Yahoo and Microsoft at long last.

Top executives at Microsoft–including SVP of the Online Audience Business Group Yusuf Mehdi, search head Satya Nadella and top digital exec Qi Lu, as well as others–have all flown down to Silicon Valley from their Redmond, Wash., HQ today to iron out the remaining issues, which seem to have to do with the deployment of technology.

“It is an entourage,” joked one exec.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is also deeply involved in the talks, although he is not with the group.

If all goes well, the deal could be announced within the next week, sources at both companies said.

The most recent talks have been unusually close to the vest at both companies, and spokespeople for both Yahoo (YHOO) and Microsoft (MSFT) declined to comment on the issue.

And, of course, they should not, since there is no certainty any deal will be struck at all, especially since the pair have been down this road before, unsuccessfully.

In those cases, both sides have thought they were close, too, with fingers quickly pointing at each other for the failure of the discussions.

While BoomTown has gotten several different versions of terms of the latest deal, they all include Microsoft (MSFT) paying Yahoo (YHOO) several billion dollars upfront to take over its search advertising business and guarantee certain payments back to Yahoo.

There is also a display advertising element to the deal, which would likely have Yahoo take the lead in selling premium advertising for the companies.

That they are so close is a good sign, although sources on both sides of the deal cautioned that it could just as easily come apart.

And, indeed, Microsoft and Yahoo have long argued the particulars of this deal, including over the rate for traffic-acquisition costs, the ability of Yahoo to have control over data and the simple fact that such an arrangement is exceedingly complex.

But, said one person close to the situation, “It is down to the short strokes, for sure, it is just a question if we can finally close this.”

That’s a good question, given the push-me-pull-you relationship between Yahoo and Microsoft over the last two years.

But both need each other, especially since they lag so far behind search market leader Google (GOOG).

Yahoo was even ready to strike a similar deal with Google in the midst of Microsoft’s hostile takeover attempt last year. That partnership failed due to regulatory concerns.

Talks between Microsoft and Yahoo have waxed and waned too, as I reported earlier this week.

When last we checked in, Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz and Microsoft’s Ballmer had a little private tete-a-tete about the deal, when both were attending the seventh D: All Things Digital conference in Southern California in late May.

Bartz and Ballmer also both acknowledged discussions in onstage interviews at D7, with Bartz even boldly stating that she was open to the deal if good and reliable data and “big boatloads of money” were forthcoming from Ballmer.

(You can see the video of her saying that here, while Ballmer is less colorful here.)

Since then, Microsoft did an aggressive launch of its new Bing search service, which has been an initial success.

The company has become more confident with the early success of Bing, which has garnered good reviews and small improvements in market share in surveys.

Sources at the software giant maintain that the improvement–via innovation and a huge marketing spend–has given Microsoft a bit of leverage against Yahoo, although the bets are still out on exactly how much sustained share Bing can garner.

Yahoo is aware, of course, that is can ill afford to lose search market share, although Bartz has been focused on beefing up Yahoo management and marketing.

Still, the companies have never given up on the talks, which began in March, although all the back and forth underscores a very real debate by both sides about whether joining together will benefit them both or not.

The possible pluses are clear: Huge technology cost-savings and cash for Yahoo and another weapon to fight archrival Google for Microsoft.

It needs as much firepower as it can get. A recent comScore (SCOR) report for June showed Google with a 65 percent share, Yahoo at 19.5 percent and Microsoft at just 8.4 percent.

The deal, if struck, could give a big boost to shares of both companies, which have been up a lot since the beginning of the year.

While sources at both sides stressed that this was in no way a merger, a deal would bind their fates together rather strongly.

There was a report earlier today by 24/7 Wall Street that a deal was “imminent.”

One source advised caution when asked about that word, although this person was more confident than ever.

In any case, if it does not work out, the source said, “this will be it…we will all finally go our separate ways and be done with it.”

Palm Pre Commercial Keeps Mirroring the Ladies

Kara Swisher — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:05:19 +0000

At the seventh D: All Things Digital conference in May, in an onstage interview, Palm’s major investor, Roger McNamee, and I got into a minor tussle over the mirror on the back of the just-launched Pre smartphone and his assertion that the ladies in particular would love it.

Take that, reflectively-challenged Apple (AAPL) iPhone!

Here is a picture of McNamee at D7, talking about the mirror, and here’s the partial transcript of the exchange:

MR. MCNAMEE: It has a mirror on the back. Remember, there has never been a smart phone designed for the needs of women before.

MS. SWISHER: Wait, wait. Women need mirrors more than, say, you?

MR. MCNAMEE: No, I am saying if you have the opportunity to stick a mirror on here, why wouldn’t you do it? If you are making it for 25- to 40-year-old nerds, you would have put a black thing back here. But we are sitting here going, “Look, it costs nothing. Why don’t we do it because you know what, people actually do need mirrors from time to time.”

Later, I joked, “Nice, Roger. Perhaps someday it will include a blow dryer as well,” and McNamee tried mightily to poll the crowd to see if I was being too politically correct for questioning his–oh, that crazy Roger!–borderline kooky mirror-as-innovation theory.

All in good fun!

In any case, Palm (PALM) is certainly not backing away from the female demographic with its latest television commercial, which features an unusually pale woman with a sing-song and vaguely creepy voice.

Rather than hawking a Silicon Valley nifty gadget, it feels more like a perfume advertisement or one for a new shampoo that promises lustrous locks.

All the better to look good in a mirror, presumably.

Here’s the new commercial, as well as a similar one from June, which feels like an ad for yoga clothes (and below it is a video of the full interview–including the mirror debate–with McNamee and also Palm Chairman and CEO Jon Rubinstein):

[ See post to watch video ]

Yahoo and Microsoft: Breaking (And Making) Up Is Hard to Do

Kara Swisher — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:44:10 +0000

Oh, they’re still talking. Except when they’re not. And, then, they are.

Such has been the course of discussions Yahoo and Microsoft continue to be engaged in about a possible partnership deal around search and online advertising.

“It runs hot, then cold, then hot, then who knows,” said one person close to the situation.

It’s kind of like a digital version of the romantic travails of Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson, minus the paparazzi and screaming matches in trendy clubs.

(Spokespeople for both companies declined to comment on any talks. Curiously, both joked separately that they would prefer to be the Lohan character in my sick metaphor because she was so “unpredictable,” which is good in business–until I pointed out that was just another word for an addiction-challenged lunatic.)

But I digress!

The temperature now, after talking to a dozen sources with knowledge of the situation?

Warmer than two weeks ago–with one of Microsoft’s principal dealmakers on the case–Charlie Songhurst–down in Silicon Valley where Yahoo is located, focused solely on the talks and making progress with them.

When last we checked in, Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had a little private tete-a-tete about the deal, when both were attending the seventh D: All Things Digital conference in Southern California in late May.

That meeting, as well as meetings between other top Microsoft (MSFT) and Yahoo (YHOO) execs in attendance, went well enough.

(You can see the video of her saying that here, while Ballmer is less colorful here.)

Well, that ship has not yet sailed, with the two sides–whose history together is tumultuous–still niggling over price and control issues.

Thus, talks in the weeks after languished, especially in the wake of Microsoft’s launch of its new Bing search service and Bartz’s focus on beefing up Yahoo management and marketing.

And while Ballmer has consistently said that Microsoft was open to a deal, Bartz has since made a variety of public statements related to it, many in conflict with previous statements.

It is an indication of the push-me-pull-you tone of the talks, which began in March.

When last asked about Microsoft by a stockholder at the Yahoo annual meeting in late June, Bartz said she had nothing to say about any deal and said it would be said publicly only after any such deal was struck.

Setting expectations is probably a good idea, since all the back and forth underscores a very real debate by both sides about whether joining together will benefit them both or not.

The possible pluses are clear: Huge technology cost-savings and cash for Yahoo and another weapon to fight archrival Google (GOOG) for Microsoft.

Sources said Bartz had been getting a lot of pressure to do a deal from Yahoo board member Carl Icahn, whom she has managed to isolate, even as she has gained total control over the company.

She is also under less immediate scrutiny, sources said, since the cost-savings related to a series of layoffs at the company have given Yahoo some financial breathing room. Still, it can ill-afford a search arms war.

Yahoo, as well as Microsoft, will report its quarterly earnings next week and both are expected to show continued weakness, due to the economy.

Still, the stock of both companies has also improved a lot since the beginning of the year, with Yahoo shares up 23 percent and Microsoft’s up 19.5 percent.

As for Microsoft, the company has also become more confident with the early success of Bing, which has garnered good reviews and improvements in market share in surveys.

Sources at the company maintain that the improvement–via innovation and a huge marketing spend–has given Microsoft a bit of leverage against Yahoo, although the bets are still out on exactly how much sustained share Bing can garner.

In a blog post today, for example, Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft SVP of the Online Audience Business Group (really, that is his actual title), touted Bing’s success after just a month:

“We saw 8 percent growth in unique users to Bing.com in June, which is an important indicator that you are trying Bing and the word is spreading….We have a long term view, and we are committed to steady progress over the years to come.”

Does that mean these two crazy kids will probably not get together in the end? Well, like LiLo and Sam, they seem to be trying, but striking a lasting partnership is not as easy as it looks.

And, until the companies decide to unite or part for sure, please enjoy this delightful video trailer for “The Parent Trap,” a time when Lohan was adorable and much, much less–like a possible Yahoo-Microsoft deal–complicated:

Elevation Partners Managing Director Roger McNamee and Palm Chairman and CEO Jon Rubinstein: The Full D7 Session

Kara Swisher — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:21:06 +0000

As the final posting of the onstage interviews at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference, here is one of the sessions that generated a lot of news: The first major interview about the Palm Pre with Elevation Partners Managing Director Roger McNamee and Palm Chairman and CEO Jon Rubinstein.

The pair are trying to remake Palm (PALM)–see the AllThingsD.com topic page on the Pre here–in a bet-the-company move to recover the Silicon Valley icon’s long-lost glory via innovation.

Palm is trying to muscle into a market with multiple competitors, such as Apple’s iPhone, Android from Google (GOOG) and many more.

In the session with Walt Mossberg and me, McNamee and Rubinstein talked about the new smartphone and its various features, including a controversial way of syncing with Apple (AAPL) iTunes.

Also, McNamee and I had a debate over the Pre’s mirror. Really.

Here’s the video of the full D7 session (along with a very funny intro video making fun of McNamee’s loose lips):

[ See post to watch video ]