The rumour du jour is that Microsoft is in talks with eBay about a possible takeover. The news came just after eBay agreed a wide-ranging partnership deal (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/25/ebay_yahoo/) with Yahoo!

The New York Post quoted "multiple sources" that Microsoft is considering buying eBay and merging it with MSN, though the paper said talks had "cooled somewhat" as execs considered anti-trust issues. Read the whole story here (http://www.nypost.com/business/64226.htm).

The Post says Microsoft turned to both eBay and Yahoo! when talks with AOL failed late last year (see here (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/07/ms_aol/) for more details). It says Microsoft turned more attention onto eBay recently after Gates decided that Yahoo! was a content company rather than technology company, and that he was not interested in owning a content company.

Ten years ago Gates a penned a column called "Content is King" (http://www.microsoft.com/billgates/columns/1996essay/essay960103.asp) predicting the real winners of the internet will be providers of information rather than the technology firms who provide the delivery pipes. ®

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