According to the New York Post, Microsoft has been involved in very covert talks with eBay about acquiring the giant online auction site. Discussions have cooled off recently because of the worries about anti-trust issues, but the Post indicates that once they receive helpful legal opinions on the matter they will resume talks.
EBay would be integrated into the MSN portal, which would clearly be a thrust at the thorn in Microsoft’s side, Google.
However, logically speaking, the validity of these reports seems shaky at best. Just last week, eBay formed a multi-year alliance with Yahoo!, giving Yahoo! the chance to display their CPM ads on eBay, while eBay would gain prominence in Yahoo!’s search listings. So, the idea that eBay would turn around and even consider selling themselves to Microsoft at this point is unlikely at best.
This is not to mention that dumbing down eBay’s hugely powerful and recognizable brand name by relegating it to a mere fragment or offshoot from the MSN portal would not bode well for Microsoft.
Sources:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=32007
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/topnews/
wpn-60-20060530RumorsBubbleOnMicrosofteBayTalk.html
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