So much for surprises. According to Bloomberg, Verizon Communications Inc. CEO Ivan Seidenberg gave attendees at a Citigroup Inc. conference Wednesday a heads-up on who he's choosing for a
mobile Web search partner.
While previous reports showed Verizon was
talking to Google Inc. about sharing ad revenue, Seidenberg said Microsoft Corp. will carry out its cell-phone searches for the next five years. Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer was to announce this news at the much-anticipated Consumer Electronics Show later Wednesday, where details on the deal will be given.
Some think Verizon would have been better off with search engine mammoth Google. CCS Insight analyst John Jackson
told Reuters: "The ultimate goal in mobility is contextual awareness and the delivery of highly personalized experiences. These are competencies Google has in spades, so it may be that Verizon's customers ultimately end up with an inferior experience relative to what Google might enable."
In other news, Verizon Wireless' $28.2 billion acquisition of Alltel Corp. is
expected to close Friday, giving the company about 14 million subscribers and moving it past AT&T Inc. as the No. 1 company for U.S. subscribers. At CES in Las Vegas, people will be
anxious to hear what Ballmer has to say about Windows Vista and Windows 7. -
Baz Hiralal*Update: Plans for the ventureSee the Bloomberg articleMSFT 'hijacks' Verizon deal
Join Corporate Dealmaker's LinkedIn forum
Juergen Lasowski
And the winners are...
