Yahoo!'s Yang begins in-house PR campaign

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Yahoo! Inc's Chief Executive Jerry Yang countered the public relations punch the company will likely face from Microsoft Corp, it was reported Friday.

Microsoft's offered to purchase Yahoo! for $44.5 billion -- $31 per share -- in late January. Yahoo! rejected the bid, which leaves Microsoft with the choice of increasing the offer or nominating hand-picked candidates to sit on Yahoo!'s board.

Simultaneously, Microsoft could resort to convincing Yahoo! shareholders that the sale would be in their best interest.

No increased offer has been put on the table.

So, Yang wrote to shareholders, The New York Times reported Friday.

With healthy cash reserves, international holdings that include Yahoo Japan, and partnerships with Web publishers such as eBay and Comcast, the company is in good position, the letter said.

Yang also said that online advertising sales are "projected to grow from $45 billion in 2007 to $75 billion in 2010."

"We have a huge market opportunity," he wrote, claiming, as he has in the past, that Yahoo!'s dominance relies on their position as the first page most Web users encounter.

That makes the company a "must-buy" for advertisers, Yang has said.