Microsoft’s latest deal proposal to Yahoo envisages the internet portal selling off its valuable properties in Asia and the purchase by Microsoft’s of Yahoo’s search business in the US, the Wall Street Journal reported late Monday. Microsoft also proposed buying a minority stake in the whittled down Yahoo that would remain after the sell-off.

Details of the proposal came a day after Microsoft announced that it was resuming its effort to team up with Yahoo, though it stressed that negotiations were not aimed at a transaction for the takeover of the web portal.

However, quoting people close to Yahoo, the report said that the Yahoo board was unlikely to favour the latest proposal.

Before details of the offer were publicized analysts said that the talks also offered both Yahoo and Microsoft the change to resurrect talks about a takeover without losing face.

‘A near-term deal could act as an intermediate step that would go a long way toward testing the waters,’ investment bank UBS wrote in a research report.

Microsoft has been pursuing Yahoo as a bulwark against the growing domination by Google of online advertising and software. It abruptly ended the previous negotiations at the start of the month, after Yahoo rejected its 47.5 billion dollar offer, valued at 33 dollars per share. Yahoo held out for a price of 37 dollars a share.

The failure of those talks prompted an attempt by corporate raider Carl Icahn to take control of Yahoo by ousting the board at the company’s annual general meeting on July 3.

‘It is quite obvious that Microsoft’s bid of 33 dollars per share is a superior alternative to Yahoo’s prospects on a standalone basis,’ wrote Icahn in a letter to Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock. ‘I believe that a combination between Microsoft and Yahoo is by far the most sensible path for both companies and more importantly would be a force strong enough to compete with Google on the internet.’

Icahn offered to back down from the proxy battle if Yahoo revived the takeover talks with Microsoft, but it was unclear whether the more limited negotiations would satisfy that demand.

In a statement late Sunday, Yahoo said its board is exploring several ‘value maximizing’ alternatives and ‘remain open to pursuing any transaction which is in the best interest of our stockholders.’

Source: monstersandcritics

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Yahoo and Microsoft have resumed talks in the wake of a shareholder rebellion launched by billionaire investor Carl Icahn, but this time the discussions are focusing on a deal short of outright acquisition.

Neither company would confirm the details Sunday, but there were reports that Microsoft was proposing an arrangement focused only on Yahoo’s search advertising business.

Microsoft announced the discussions in a brief statement around midday Sunday. Yahoo had no immediate comment, although its senior managers are to meet today.

Last week, Icahn launched an effort to oust Yahoo’s board and replace it with his own slate of directors who would favor a Microsoft takeover. Microsoft had earlier walked away from a $47.5 billion offer to buy Yahoo, after the Sunnyvale search firm’s chief executive, Jerry Yang, rejected the deal.

As recently as Friday, Microsoft executives were saying publicly that the company had “moved on” from the idea of buying Yahoo. But in its Sunday statement, Microsoft said it’s now contemplating a different kind of transaction.

“Microsoft is considering and has raised with Yahoo! an alternative that would involve a transaction with Yahoo! but not an acquisition of all of Yahoo!” the statement said.

“Microsoft is not proposing to make a new bid to acquire all of Yahoo! at this time,” the statement continued, “but reserves the right to reconsider that alternative, depending on future developments or discussions that may take place with Yahoo! or discussions with shareholders of Yahoo! or Microsoft or with other third parties.”

The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant had wanted to acquire Yahoo in order to compete more directly with Google. Yahoo is currently ranked second in the lucrative Internet search advertising business, behind Google, with Microsoft a distant third.

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Source: mercurynews.com

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It’s not easy sometimes to get other bloggers to link to a new blog. linkbaiting is one way to established blogs. Link Bait means putting something so good on your website that people would love to link.
This is the preferred way to natural link building. The idea behind linkbait is to create content that attracts links. It’s a kind of sensationalism that naturally attract backlinks for your web page by getting people to talk about it.

According to the Search Engine Journal, the top Link Baiting techniques are “News, Contrary, Attack, Resource and Humour”.

Have a look at list of ideas:

• Write an interesting article
• List of blogs, latest news in your niche
• Write some funny humor, practical and useful related to your niche
• A how to, reports, history etc. related to your niche
• Run some kind of useful informative contest
• Write something controversial
• Be the only one in your niche to find something to not like about a story, or like about a story/product.
• On the same theme, post “Why is WRONG about…”
• Make a tool that contain link to your site but people can put that tool on their site also. It will be counted as backlink to your site.
• Write useful comments on something that is happening
• Insert a new acronym in your niche and get people to talk about it
• Try something new and entertaining every time
• Expose a scammer
• Interview Widely known people and publish it
• Make some eye catching pictures related to resource
• Publish some major event related to resource
• Become an expert in your niche and try to write valuable information every time to to catch people’s attention

Sometimes even a little bit of work can generate a reason for people to link to you.

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