Short Yahoo!!
Get it? I don't and I just wrote the darn thing. The one thing I think I do "get" is Paul's reference to the "you get what you pay for" saying. My spin on this is that you get what you overpay for. Assuming that a stock calculator has the symbol for infinity built in poses a serious occupational hazard.
We can't compare Yahoo! to any of its pure portal peers because the valuation disparity is mind-boggling. Comparing it to a hard-line brand like TV Guide <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: TVGIA)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: TVGIA)") end if %> isn't any easier for the bulls. TV Guide delivers its product to three times as many households and in twice as many countries as Yahoo! It is the original search engine. Two months ago it was set to be acquired in a deal valued at $9.2 billion. At what point does Yahoo!'s markup end at justified potential premiums and begin with unsubstantiated euphoria?
I suggest that the line was crossed a few tens of billions ago.
Is Yahoo! really worthy of its moniker? At this stage in the Internet's lifecycle the need for a portal on training wheels, which is essentially what Yahoo! has become, is obvious. However, how much longer will it take before the masses realize the true potential of the Internet?
Why search Yahoo! when you can log on to Go2Net's <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: GNET)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: GNET)") end if %> Metacrawler and search all of the popular engines with one click. Why go through Yahoo! Shopping when dozens of worthy comparison shopping sites out there will provide better pricing? Yahoo! would be hard-pressed to offer such a feature because of the vested interest it has in protecting its own merchant sponsors. How Wise, when you think about it.
Are we not Fools? Turn the page, Cervantes. The search is over.
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