Yahoo! open to search deal, CFO says

Yahoo! CFO Blake Jorgensen is keeping the door open to a potential deal with Microsoft, claiming that Yahoo! "wasn't opposed" to a search advertising agreement. The comments come just days after Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer spoke in favour of a deal, reigniting long-running speculation about a union between the two companies.

"We are not opposed to doing a deal that would maximise the value of the business in one way or another, be it a partnership or be it a long-term sale," Jorgensen said, while speaking at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference in San Francsisco.

Stressing that any agreement would be made for the right economic reasons, he said: "We're very focused on building our business and doing that in a way which we can benefit all from the search side."

However, Jorgensen acknowledged the integral part Yahoo!'s search business plays with its other products and properties, and added: "It's extremely difficult to draw a line down the middle of the organisation and split it into two pieces."

While not mentioning Microsoft directly, the comments seem to mark a softening in Yahoo!'s approach to Microsoft.

Last month, Yahoo!'s recently appointed CEO, Carol Bartz, said "everything is on the table," but added that her "gut instincts" are to avoid selling the search business unit, claiming Yahoo! was not ready to be "pulled apart".

In spite of this Yahoo! has rolled out a number of search initiatives in the past month, including a new search ad platform that will integrate image and video listings into paid search inventory, and a range of new targeted ad tools.

This may be an effort to boost the value of its search assets before re-entering formal negotiations with Yahoo!. Last year Yahoo! turned down a USD44.6bn takeover from Yahoo! and opted to sign a search deal with Google instead of the software giant – a deal that was ultimately blocked by the Department of Justice.

Speaking earlier this week, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said he would "like to figure out how to pool Microsoft and Yahoo!" and that they should "somehow figure out how to get together and create more competition." It is not the first time Ballmer has spoken publicly about the merits of making a search pact with Yahoo!.