Microsoft and Yahoo continue to negotiate heavily through the medium of the Wall Street Journal, forcing reporters Kevin Delaney, Matthew Karnitschnig, and Robert Guth into spastic repetition of the word “could.”
Microsoft could announce it’s backing out of the deal, we heard yesterday. The word this morning is it’s leaning toward going hostile as early as today, but “could change tack.” Meanwhile, Yahoo could announce an expansion of its Google search ad trial by next week. Such a deal “could go forward” even in the event of a hostile bid, WSJ promises.
What about Yahoo/AOL? Could happen. After all, it’s been just three weeks since the firms were “closing in on a deal” to combine operations.
One thing’s clear: All us losers that aren’t the Wall Street Journal could have some real Microsoft/Yahoo news to report as early as any minute.