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Non-Tech : Borders Group (BGP) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Big Dog who wrote (141)	2/2/1999 6:44:00 AM
From: Fred Thornell	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 411

Subject: Re: Microsoft to buy BGP ??? Date: Tue, Feb 2, 1999 06:28 EST From: Viper1433x Message-id: <19990202062822.00909.00002815@ng-fd1.aol.com> Microsoft Under Pressure to Acquire Internet Company Borders Group Inc., the No. 2 U.S. bookseller, and egghead.com Inc., an online seller of software, have been mentioned. Redmond, Washington, Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp., the No. 1 software maker, is under growing pressure to acquire an Internet company to strengthen its own online businesses because of rapid consolidation in the new industry, analysts said. Chairman Bill Gates told the Financial Times in an interview published today that his company probably would make another Internet acquisition despite ''breathtaking'' valuations for Web- related companies. Microsoft reportedly talked to Excite Inc. before it agreed to be acquired by At Home Corp., and to Lycos Inc., which is seeking an investor. Microsoft has the currency to make a big purchase using stock or cash. Its shares have more than doubled in the past 12 months, raising its market value to $431 billion. It has a cash hoard of $19.24 billion. President Steve Ballmer is revamping the MSN network of Web sites to catch up with No. 1 online service America Online Inc. and top Internet directory Yahoo! Inc. ''The pressure is on Microsoft,'' said Bill Whyman, an Internet stock strategist at Legg Mason's Precursor Group. ''One thing that's changed is the acceleration of alliances.'' Yahoo said last week that it plans to buy personal Web-site provider GeoCities for about $3.57 billion in stock, based on today's closing price. At Home, which provides high-speed Internet access through cable TV networks, agreed to acquire No. 2 Internet search directory Excite for $7.82 billion in stock. AOL has agreed to buy Netscape Communications Corp. for about $7.65 billion in stock. Ballmer in Charge Meanwhile, Microsoft also is looking for a new head of MSN amid the revamp. Pete Higgins resigned in November as group vice president of interactive media, which includes MSN, to take a leave of absence. Ballmer is running MSN in the interim and has moved his office to the satellite campus where MSN is located, a couple miles from the company's headquarters in Redmond, Washington. Microsoft has yet to come up with a list of candidates to replace Higgins, analysts said. ''They're still in flux with strategy,'' said Joe Bartlett, an analyst at Yankee Group. ''You hear they want to sell MSN access, then no, they want to spend a couple of hundred million dollars to market it.'' MSN comprises an Internet access service and a network of Web sites ranging from its Expedia online travel-bookings to its MSNBC news site, a joint venture with General Electric Co.'s NBC. Microsoft apparently has been rebuffed by at least one potential candidate. Excite Chief Executive George Bell said Microsoft's executive search firm approached him about the Higgins position. He said he wasn't interested because he felt he still had a lot of work to accomplish at Excite. Microsoft hasn't shied from acquisitions as a way of building up MSN. It bought e-mail provider Hotmail Corp. for about $400 million in stock in late 1997 and LinkExchange, an online marketing network, for about $295 million in stock in November. Another acquisition would be aimed at capturing the loyal users of the target company. ''It's not that they're (Microsoft) not getting traffic,'' said Whyman. ''It's a matter of keeping traffic.'' Microsoft held talks with Lycos, Whyman said. Among Lycos's attractions are its WhoWhere site that lets users find people on the Web and its community chat rooms, Whyman said. Gates predicted at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that more serious effort will be put into digital distribution of books and music over the Internet by next year. Advances in software and screen technology will make so-called ebooks more practical, Gates said. Microsoft might be interested in buying a book or music retailer to take advantage of the rapid growth in electronic commerce, analysts have speculated. Borders Group Inc., the No. 2 U.S. bookseller, and egghead.com Inc., an online seller of software, have been mentioned. Microsoft shares fell 2 1/16 to 172 15/16 in trading of 20.3 million shares, the fourth most-active U.S. stock. Earlier, they touched a record 175 15/16. 17:56:32 02/01/1

To: Big Dog who wrote (141)	2/8/1999 8:36:00 PM
From: Big Dog	Respond to of 411

Amazon.com criticized over payments for placement By Martin Wolk SEATTLE, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Internet retailing giant Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq:AMZN - news) came under fire Monday after the disclosure that publishers are paying up to $10,000 to have their books featured on some of the most coveted real estate on the Internet. The Seattle-based company defended its actions, saying it employs a staff of editors who make decisions ''completely independent'' of any so-called cooperative advertising payments made by publishers. ''Our basic practice is to recommend only those books we feel are worthy of it,'' Amazon.com spokesman Bill Curry said. ''Our editors are free to reject books that are proposed for co-op -- and do it every day.'' But revelations that the company is seeking as much as $10,000 from publishers for featured treatment of certain books drew sharp criticism from rivals, consumer advocates and independent booksellers. ''I'm disturbed by it,'' said Richard Howorth, owner of Square Books in Oxford, Miss., and president of the American Booksellers Association. ''Ethically, it's a pretty shady way to sell books, in my view.'' The issue of cooperative payments, which are commonplace throughout the retail industry, is a particularly touchy one in the publishing industry because of concern about the increasing concentration of power in a small number of publishers and retailers. ''What we're really tremendously afraid of is that a reading society and democracy is jeopardized by narrowing of the distribution of ideas,'' Howorth said. On the sales side, a trend that began in the early 1990s with the rise of ''big box'' bookstores is accelerating now with the emergence of online booksellers including Amazon.com, which likely will sell more than $1 billion worth of books this year in a flat U.S. market. Industry analysts said that while some bookstores accept payments to feature books in their windows or other high-visibility locations, online retailers are different in part because they have created an appearance of editorial independence. ''Particularly Amazon, with the editorial voice they've developed and the relationship with their customers they've developed, should be diligent not to blur the line between editorial voice and shelf-space purchases,'' said Ken Cassar, an analyst with Jupiter Communications. ''There needs to be a Chinese wall between the editorial voice and marketing.'' That may be a lot to ask from what is, after all, a retailer. But he and others also noted that Amazon.com, which carries far more titles than even the biggest physical store, has made it a point to work with the smallest publishers to carry obscure titles. Amazon.com declined to comment on the exact terms of its agreements with publishers, including a report in the New York Times that the prices range up to $10,000 for a premium package including feature coverage in the ''Destined for Greatness'' category. ''We stand behind every recommendation -- every one of them,'' said Curry, who added that the overwhelming majority of books featured on its home page do not benefit from co-op payments. ''If any reader feels he was duped by a recommendation he can send the book back for a full refund.'' One executive of a large publisher, who declined to be identified, said Amazon.com refused to accept payments to promote books that did not fit its standards. ''I'm not sure anybody is particularly surprised or particularly outraged'' by the news about payments, the executive said. But barnesandnoble.com, the online affiliate of Barnes & Noble Inc. and Bertelsmann AG, was quick to claim the moral high ground as its rival suffered from the bad publicity. ''Our editorial content is not for sale,'' said Ben Boyd, spokesman for barnesandnoble.com. ''We would never sell a space on our recommended area. ... When we tell (customers) we recommend a book, it's not a reflection of a price tag associated with our opinions.'' Boyd said barnesandnoble.com accepted payments from publishers but tried to make the association clear by promoting the selected books in special ''boutique'' sections. ''We make crystal clear the difference between what is our opinion and what is paid for,'' he said.