At least for me. The Yahoo! situation has been going on for weeks and the search (no pun intended) is still on for a suitable partner to block the Microsoft acquisition. Now I am not a financial analyst (and not using that lens) but the whole situation isn’t computing for me at face value, or product value for that matter. Yes, the YHOO stock is down but they are a true pioneer and leader in their field, not to mention arguably the leading media company online. Yes, a lot of the news and commentary are treating Yahoo! as a loser because of Google’s success not as the SECOND biggest search player out there. And not as a player that in addition to search has an endless number of assets in their online arsenal, too many to count but a couple to mention such as Yahoo! Mail and Delicious (when are you going to monetize it by the way!)

From an outsider’s perspective, it seems crazy to think some of these potential partnerships that are being discussed are a better alternative than Yahoo! standalone. Time Warner? wow. Did I imagine what happened with AOL? If a financial transaction has to take place which apparently needs to since the situation is not going away, then Microsoft sure does seem the best alternative. As long as Microsoft basically leaves Yahoo! as their online arm, doing synergistic tie-ins to drive Microsoft’s online agenda. Microsoft keeping MSN running, however, seems duplicative and confusing. And, I can’t help but to continue to think that, even with the best of intentions, two companies of this size and different cultures often doesn’t lead to “one plus one equals three”. But again, I am not a financial analyst.

I, for one, am hoping that Yahoo! finds the financial methods to stay standalone. It will foster innovation, keep some competition in place, and I still think they have a LOT of runway to do great things.

UPDATE: Got an email regarding a related funny video. Uploaded over at my tumblr site. Thanks to Observ34 for sending my way.