Is Microsoft's Aquantive Buy A Warning Sign?

from the at-the-summit dept

This morning's announcement that Microsoft would buy Aquantive at a staggering premium has a lot of people wondering whether the deal might be some sign of a bubble. By almost any metric, the deal was very rich, which leads to some serious questions about whether Microsoft can get a good return on its investment. Everyone guessed that Microsoft still wanted to do a deal following its failure to win DoubleClick, but as Felix Salmon cleverly points out, the one silver lining for Microsoft after losing DoubleClick was that Google ended up being saddled with the enormous bill. Now it's Microsoft's turn to suffer the "winner's curse". To put it into a bit more perspective, it's this will be the company's biggest acquisition of all time, which is good evidence that the company desperately wants to diversify away from simply being a software company. Of course, with as much cash as the company has in its accounts, it can afford to make a few desperate moves.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    RandomThoughts, 18 May 2007 @ 3:59pm

    This is good evidence that the company wants to diversify away from software? Wasn't Balmers statement of that a while ago a good clue? At least you guys are not like Engadget, you really make sure you have ALL the facts before you cover something.

    Everyone in the world knew Microsoft had to make a move. Yahoo wasn't just a rumor, it was actually being considered.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 May 2007 @ 4:00pm

    I dont know how microsoft will ever make its money

    $6,000,000,000
    /
    $200,000,000/year
    =
    30 years

    In 30 years, technology will have changed so much, that this product will likely no longer exist.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Brandon Watts, 18 May 2007 @ 4:38pm

    Microsoft Fever

    This deal is worth so much money that it's trivialized the actual reason behind the purchase. So far, it seems like almost everyone has talked about the astounding amount of money that was placed on the table instead of what all of this will actually mean for the company.

    You've done it again, Microsoft. Thanks for the shock.

    Brandon Watts
    Criteo Evangelist

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Michael G., 18 May 2007 @ 5:23pm

    How can anyone not think Microsoft is in a corner.

    It’s the ol' cliché 'too big for its own good." The time was right for Microsoft to grow like it did when it did but now that pace is getting too fast for even Microsoft to keep up. Nobody really wants to go to Vista, it’s only because we have to that most of us will. Some of us are going to be searching out better things and Microsoft knows they’re out there for us to use. They’ve been doing this for years. Now again it’s time to play catch-up and its costing them 6 billion to do it. I don't even think they know themselves if they have the power to recoup losses at this price. Technology is not the place where there is ever going to 'winner take all.'

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 19 May 2007 @ 3:42pm

    some people may remember something called "xbox." with it, microsoft lost tremendous amounts of money, but successfully broke into a new niche: the living room.

    for a company with as many financial resources as microsoft, not only can they afford to throw money around, but they also clearly are willing to take a financial hit, to expand their market.

    we will surely see a bubble again (albeit a smaller bubble; investors have learned their lessons right?), but I do not feel microsoft's acquisition of Aquantive should be interpreted as road sign hinting that another economic sinkhole is waiting just around the bend.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Yong Su Kim, 20 May 2007 @ 11:30pm

    There are better ways to spend $6B

    It's definitely a desperate move on Microsoft's part. Given all the high profile deals they lost to Google, I'm sure there was pressure on the deal team to close a deal.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    anonymous coward, 21 May 2007 @ 10:04am

    motion does equal direction

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.