Yahoo! Inc (YHOO), Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): Divorce, And Hulu?

Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ:YHOO) does not seem to be very happy with Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), and it feels like it needs to get out and expand its horizons. Yahoo! seems to be pining for a relationship with Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), which is more generous with its search relationships – and the desire seems to make sense considering where the current Yahoo! CEO came from; could it be a case of stick with what you know?

On another front, Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ:YHOO) is apparently shifting its business focus to mobile and video, according to some sources, and the company seems to be making its video play by having discussions with a popular video-streaming service business that has been on the auction block for a few months now. Yes, it seems that, once again, CEO Marissa Mayer is getting busy trying to renovate Yahoo!

We’ll move first to Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ:YHOO) now making serious overtures to Hulu. Hulu’s owners have been indicating a willingness to sell to the right bidder, and Yahoo! has been mentioned as a possible suitor. These discussions are now serious in that Mayer had meetings with Hulu executives pretty recently, though no offer was extended.

Yahoo! is going after Hulu after its designs on French equivalent Dailymotion fell through when the French government nixed the deal because Yahoo! was looking to grab too large a stake in the company. It is reported that Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is one of the companies competing for Hulu as well.

Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ:YHOO) is now looking to its search segment, which has been in a cooperative agreement with Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), in  which Bing would be the search engine behind search on all Yahoo! sites. Microsoft and Yahoo! just renewed their search-ad alliance agreement, and Mayer doesn’t seem to be too pleased about it, though Microsoft pledged better revenue share in this new deal.

The 10-year deal was signed in 2010, but the revenue-sharing component had expired in March before this current extension until next April. Mayer, a former Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) executive, believes that having Yahoo! search run by Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) would be more lucrative for her company due to the ad network in place and the dominating reach of Google Search around the world. Therefore, she is trying to get out of the deal with Microsoft, but so far it appears that may not legally happen until the middle of 2015, or about the halfway point of the current contract.

What are your thoughts about Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) and the direction it’s heading under Marissa Mayer? What do you think of her performance so far after six months on the job? Give us your feedback in the comments section below.

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