twitter-dave-knox-given-the-release-of-yahoo-_1239462188157

I might be crazy here but I have a gut feeling that the company who ends up buying Twitter is not going to be Google or Facebook like everyone thinks.  Instead, as I mentioned on Twitter the other week, I think Yahoo might just emerge as the Dark Horse candidate to pick-up everyone’s favorite microblogging service (which just saw traffic surge to 10 million).

Here are my five reasons it might just come true:

  1. The release of Yahoo Sideline shows Twitter is on their radar: If you haven’t seen Sideline yet, it allows you to “watch, search, and monitor the Twitter public timeline in real-time.”  In a time when new management is trying to get things moving in the right direction at Yahoo, they are only going to invest resources in something that is important.  This is not the biggest reason but something to keep in mind.
  2. Yahoo has a history of investing in Web 2.0: People often forget that before Yahoo fell on hard times, they were the go to place for a Web 2.0 company to get acquired.   They bought the leading photo site with Flickr, the pioneer of social bookmarking with del.icio.us, and widget “inventor” Konfabulator.
  3. If Yahoo wants to win in search, Twitter could be the key: Much has been written about the search wars between Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo.  In fact, many say its the reason Microsoft made a play for Yahoo in the first place.  Now everyone is talking about how Google and Microsoft are bidding against each other for the search rights on Twitter.  What if Yahoo stepped inand took it away from both of them?  Would that be enough to bring Ballmer back to the table to buy Yahoo at $33 a share?
  4. Yahoo has the cash that Twitter wants: Yahoo has $3.45 billion in cash on hand.  Facebook’s play for Twitter fell apart because in the $500 million offer price, they were only giving $50-$100 million in cash and the rest in Facebook stock.  If cash is what Twitter wants, Yahoo could easily give them an all cash deal.  Though if I was the Twitter guys, I would take a little of the undervalued Yahoo stock as well.
  5. Yahoo’s new management needs a hit: This might just be the most important reason.  In a part of the country where being the next big thing is half the battle, Yahoo has fallen on hard times from an image standpoint.  I can’t think of a more startling way for Carol Bartz to declare that “Purple is Back” than by making the play for the hottest company out there.

So what do you think?  Could the Twitter founders end up wearing purple when all is said and done?

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This entry was posted on Saturday, April 11th, 2009 at 8:31 am and is filed under Brand Management, Music / Entertainment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.