SearchEngineWatch.com (http://blog.searchenginewatch.com) announced on November 1 that the search engine giant Yahoo Inc. (www.yahoo.com) is emerging as a leading bidder for MarketWatch Inc. (www.marketwatch.com), the San Francisco-based owner of the popular CBS MarketWatch business and finance news website, although the search engine giant will face stiff competition from CBS parent Viacom Inc. (www.viacom.com), which already owns 22% of MarketWatch, and other media conglomerates for the rights to buy the online financial news company.
Although Yahoo, which provides financial news and information through its Yahoo! Finance channel, would gain several subscription-based products in buying the San Francisco-based MarketWatch, it also would turn the Internet company into a content provider. To date, Yahoo has focused on collecting and disseminating information from other content providers. MarketWatch shares traded on November 1 at $13.30 each, putting the company's market capitalization at $334 million. A Yahoo spokeswoman declined to comment on the company's interest in MarketWatch.
