Hey Microsoft, Yahoo's For Sale—For Real This Time

It's deja vu all over again, with revived talks of Yahoo being purchased by Microsoft. Except what makes this turn on the merry-go-round different is that Yahoo is the one asking Microsoft to buy it.

Jerry Yang, CEO of Yahoo, speaking at the Web 2.0 Summit Wednesday in San Francisco, essentially hung a "For Sale By Owner" sign in the window of his business, suggesting that Microsoft might be a good candidate to purchase his company.

Yang took the stage just hours after the proposed Web advertising deal between Google and Yahoo finally fell apart. Google was the one that walked away, deciding it wasn't worth untangling the antitrust concerns that had cropped up around the pact.

As the door shut behind Google, Yang and Yahoo saw a projected $80 million to $450 million—depending on which version of the deal might've been approved—walk away.

For a company that's obviously looking to increase its revenue stream, that's a serious blow. Now Yang is open to Microsoft taking another run at Yahoo as long as "the price is right."

"To this day the best thing for Microsoft to do is buy Yahoo," said Yang, the BBC reports.

"I don't think that is a bad idea at all, at the right price whatever that price is. We're willing to sell the company," said Yang.

Sound familiar? It should—except last time the drama unfolded over nearly six months and the talk was Microsoft's bid to purchase Yahoo, Carl Icahn's intervention and Yahoo asking for too much money.

At the time, Microsoft offered $33 per share to Yahoo but Yang felt the price wasn't right so the deal was never struck. Eventually, Microsoft approached the company again, this time looking to purchase the search portion of Yahoo but, again, the deal fell apart.

When asked why he turned down the offer of $33 per share—Yahoo's stock, incidentally, is now hovering around $14—Yang said that Microsoft walked away from the deal rather than negotiating, the BBC reports.

"They walked away from a public offering and we were ready to negotiate," said Yang. "We wanted to negotiate a deal. We felt we weren't that far apart. At the end of the day, they withdrew and they have since been clear about not wanting to buy the company."

Do you really think Microsoft will come in with an offer like that one again? I don't.

For that matter, Microsoft has to show interest in purchasing the whole company or even just Yahoo's search again. To this point, the giant in Redmond has yet to stir, with Yang saying that there is "no new news" regarding Microsoft.

Microsoft had no comment on Yahoo.

It would seem that Microsoft is still probably interested in purchasing Yahoo, but no one would blame Steve Ballmer for making Yahoo and Yang sweat it out a little bit first.

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