2 posts and columns on Macbeth

The Yahoo Rumor Mill–The Broken Clock Will Be Right at Some Time

in News on December 1, 2008 at 3:25 pm PT

Let me be crystal clear: Yahoo and Microsoft are not currently secretly at work on a pricey new search partnership and a piece this weekend in the Times of London that said they were is inaccurate. It’s natural for the idea to be brought up, since they have talked about such a deal many months ago and have indicated publicly and recently that they should again in the future, so smart betting is correct in guessing that they probably will do some sort of search deal in the months ahead. Still, various rumors pop up weekly about deals between the pair, which are about as convoluted as a mash-up of “Richard III” and “Macbeth,” with some “Three’s Company” thrown in for comic relief.

Meet the Internet's Human Pinata: Jerry Yang

in News on November 6, 2008 at 5:42 pm PT

Well, this was certainly predictable–the mindless piling on of Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang now taking place in the blogosphere, in the wake of yet another setback for the troubled Internet company. This time, it comes after the collapse of the search advertising deal with Google yesterday. BoomTown is not saying the co-founder of Yahoo does not deserve criticism for how he has run the company since last summer. Nonetheless, it is simply lazy to just call for Yang’s ouster as the panacea for what ails the company. It’s a feel-good suggestion, mixed with a creepy mob mentality, that offers no clear path to improvement.