So today is a big one for Yahoo! Not only did they once again rebuff Miscrosoft's takeover bid as undervaluing their company (thanks to tumbling stock values the once $44.6 Billion offer is now valued at $42.2 Billion). Additionally, perhaps in a move to show how strong it is as its own company, Yahoo! announced a new ad sales system. The new system is called AMP! and will (hopefully) allow Yahoo! to compete with a post-DoubleClick Google and a post-aQuantive Miscrosoft.
So what makes AMP! so special? It will allow customer who buy advertising from Yahoo! to spread those ads around over a variety of web sites and even newspapers. AMP! makes sense to me, because we all know how much everyone loves bundled services. Think about it in the consumer world as opposed to the corporate world for a second. People love the Comcast Triple Play because it allows them to have TV, internet and telephone services all billed to the same account.
From the perspective of an ad purchaser, AMP! makes a ton of sense. Do you want to (or are you able to) manage advertising buys across potentially hundreds of web sites and newspapers? I'm no expert, but I think I'd lose it if I were tasked with that. Additionally, AMP! will help companies reach customers they didn't know they had - AMP! can target much smaller, niche sites that might otherwise get missed.
In a way, Microsoft's bid for Yahoo! has helped the Sunnyvale internet phenom examine themselves and find ways to improve. When your company is in trouble (or is at least perceived to be) it would be really tempting to say "$44.6 Billion? Where do I sign, Ballmer?" Instead, Yahoo! has been going crazy with innovations, AMP! being perhaps the biggest and best so far.
If the MS bid totally falls apart, the job situation may be better too. We all know that ,ergers/buyouts lead to layoffs, especially at the top. Would MicroHoo! really need, for example, 2 CFO's? Anything that doesn't contribute to the number of unemployed is something I can get behind.
I know I've been saying it a lot, but once again I'm excited to see what happens next.
Details on the bid refusal at Reuters.
Details on AMP!, also at the Reuters.
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