Split forms in Microsoft on buying adware firm
By Steve Lohr and Gary Rivlin The New York Times

FRIDAY, JULY 1, 2005

For the past two weeks, Microsoft has been in talks to buy a
controversial Silicon Valley company best known for its pop-up ads and
software that tracks people visiting Web sites. The talks underscore
just how eager Microsoft is to catch up with Google, the search and
advertising giant.
 
One person briefed on the talks said Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief
executive, and Bill Gates, the chairman, became involved in a debate
inside Microsoft over the wisdom of such an acquisition. The company
in question, Claria, is an adware maker formerly called Gator. Its
software has frequently been denounced by privacy advocates as
intrusive and deceptive.
 
Ballmer, according to the person briefed on the talks, has been
pushing Yusuf Mehdi, the senior vice president in charge of MSN and
Microsoft's search business, to be more aggressive to try to catch up
with Google, with acquisitions as one possibility. Ballmer, this
person said, gave approval to begin talks with Claria two weeks ago.
 
This person said the group within Microsoft against the deal feared
that it could bring an outcry from critics portraying Microsoft as a
corporate Big Brother that tries to track every mouse click on the Web
and profit from it.
 
(snip / snip)

Full article at International Herald Tribune ...
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/30/yourmoney/msft.php

Cheers, Steve..

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