6. A statement of simple fact? Ballmer's pitch is it's about share of, and increasing efficiency in the delivery of online ads. He doesn't even mention web services in his offer letter. Which I think is interesting.

MS can do far more than make Yahoo its online *ad* platform.

5. In that case my original point holds. To say that MS has bought Yahoo! to bolster its web services business is statement of simple fact. Where's the analysis?

Here's one view: Yahoo started on the road to a slow lingering death several years ago. At the same time MS has demonstrated relatively little evidence that it is capable of producing competitive products and services, as opposed to its undoubted skills in suppressing competition with monopolistic practices. Its core software competency is in a shocking state if you look purely at the quality of its products. Is this the company that is going to make Yahoo!'s flagging web business into a mean Google-fighting machine? I think not.

4. Well, coming at it from another direction, if Microsoft wants to build a platform online and perhaps shift emphasis away from Windows, then what other better options are there than Yahoo? I can't see too many around.

Microsoft REALLY wants to find a way to make proper web-enabled applications work and I think it sees Yahoo as its best long-term shot at doing that.

3. Hmm, if Yahoo's business is so great, why did its share price slide from about $33 to $19 between around June last year and just before the MS offer was announced? Yahoo was trading at over $40 back in early 06 and is now worth a fraction of what it would be if its business had grown healthily in the intervening period.

Let's put it this way, if Yahoo was half as vigorous and creative as it should, it simply wouldnt be vulnerable to this sort of deal.

2. No site that is the number one (according to Alexa) can be classed as tired, mouldy or not worth buying. And $44 billion is not particularly 'cheap' either when judged against Yahoo's profits.

And even if Microsoft does need to 'revive' it by throwing money at it, it has lots of money - and technology - to throw.

1. "So the big questions aren’t about whether Microsoft is evil or whether Hotmail and Yahoo Mail can be integrated. They are: can Microsoft pull off the risky business of making Yahoo its online tech platform and what does this say about Microsoft’s long term ambitions for Windows?"

Hmmm, blinding glimpse of the blatantly obvious, anyone?

Actually, I think the big question is whether tired, mouldy old Yahoo! and its crappy search engine and portal were worth buying, period. Yahoo was available on the cheap because it was being spanked by Google. Given that MS has forgotten how to do anything but squash competitors with monopolistic business practices, it's hard to see how it will revive Yahoo! other than simply throwing money at it.