Yahoo chief executive Carol Bartz met with Microsoft head Steve Ballmer last week, according to a report in All Things Digital. However, this time the talk wasn’t of acquisition, but partnership. Negotiations had supposedly begun several weeks ago.
Citing “a variety of sources” the report says the talk were “preliminary and wide ranging,” looking at a partnership in search and advertising.
Bartz has already indicated she’s not likely to be pressured into selling off assets, but a partnership would make sense for both parties, given Google’s massive dominance in the search market.
At the same time, Microsoft has been forging ahead with new search plans, called Kudo, even grabbing Yahoo staffer Qi Lu, for the project.
