BlogForward : Money

The board of directors faces a ticking clock at Yahoo, as a week has passed since Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer promised Yahoo they needed to make a decision on Microsoft’s takeover bid in 3 weeks.

The ultimatum proved the catalyst for a series of events. First came the expected Yahoo rejection of the idea, albeit with a caveat that they would be open to a better offer. Then Yahoo disclosed a trial of Google’s AdSense for Search in a limited set of search results for a two week period; no other potential Google/Yahoo closeness has been revealed.

AOL and Yahoo have been in discussions to bring the Internet businesses together, as a way to keep Microsoft from winning its bid for Yahoo. Since Yahoo angled for more money out of Microsoft, as Yahoo bitterly resents being undervalued by Wall Street, Microsoft reportedly began talking to News Corp about bringing them on board in a Fox Interactive Media/Yahoo/MSN arrangement.

Discussions between Yahoo and AOL aren’t making Yahoo insiders feel all that great. Kara Swisher at All Things D said Yahoos came away from lunch with Jerry Yang with upset tummies about the prospect of bringing AOL under the purple banner:

We have enough problems without getting theirs, which are much worse, said one exec. No one here, except Jerry and the board, has any enthusiasm for it.

Added another: I cannot believe they would put our amazing assets with those who we dont really respect, for the most part, and think thats okay.

And a third: We are tired of all the noise and the angling [of this takeover] and most of us just want something to get donethis is completely distracting for employees and makes it hard to manage the big businesses we all have.

Not exactly a ringing endorsement for Yang and the board, which faces expulsion if Microsoft decides to go hostile and nominate a new board, forcing a proxy fight for the company.