PR Week Echo Columns

After three months of discussions, Microsoft walked away from its bid to buy Yahoo, a bid seen back in February as a "last chance" (Guardian, 15 Feb) to challenge Google for "its title as heavyweight champion of the internet" (Economist, 4 May). CEO Jerry Yang angered investors by trying to push the offer higher and, despite returning a year ago to revive Yahoo's fortunes, may find his own head on the block. Darren Chervitz, a Yahoo shareholder, complained: "they didn't show much regard for shareholders' best interests in this process" (Times, 6 May).

The prospect of Yahoo outsourcing a "lucrative part of its business to Google in the event that Microsoft tried to launch a formal, hostile takeover" (Times, 5 May) proved to be the last straw for Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, despite the view that it would attract interest from the regulators. WPP's Sir Martin Sorrell however admired the retreat saying: "Microsoft showed price discipline by not going above their revised offer" (Sunday Times, 4 May). Other commentators speculated that Microsoft would now do deals with other companies such as Facebook or NewsCorp's MySpace or might return in the future with a lower offer to put the "Microhoo" deal back on the table.