More Yahoo-AOL Drama

• YHOO/AOL update from Silicon Alley Insider: Yahoo and AOL are reportedly far apart on price in their merger negotiations: AOL's at $6 billion, Yahoo's at $3 billion. Given how little interest either side has in doing this deal, it would almost certainly be a disaster if they did it, so better to just let it go. (If Yahoo can get AOL for $3-$4 billion, however, it should take it). [Silicon Alley Insider]
• AOL update from paidContent: CEO Randy Falco and Lynda Clarizio, head of Platform-A, will gather 400 ad and media execs to kick off a "traveling upfront presentation" it's calling the AOL Roadshow at the American Museum of Natural History. Bill Wilson, EVP of AOL Programming, demoed his presentation for me Friday; he'll be trumpeting the company's traffic numbers (one favorite of his: 21 months of consecutive year-over-year unique visitor growth for a current total of 56 million uniques). [paidContent]
• Carl Icahn is interviewed in the WSJ; Icahn says he can't comment too much about the MSFT/YHOO issue, but he still thinks that Yahoo "should do a deal with Microsoft." [Wall Street Journal]
• YHOO mentioned cautiously on Silicon Alley Insider: YHOO will drop the axe on December 10, Kara Swisher says, smack in the middle of the holidays (earlier, Jerry said Thanksgiving). The company is still reportedly planning to can about 1,500 Yahoos. A cut of that size would only roll the company's workforce back to Q2 levels, and, in our opinion, it would leave Yahoo in a position where it might have to make further cuts next year. This is not the way to set the company up for a clean, fresh start. Silicon Alley Insider]
• MSFT mentioned positively on Silicon Alley Insider: for much of the past 15 years MSFT has been pouring money into an ineffectual internet strategy, but the economic downturn will afford the software giant a chance to ramp up its efforts. MSFT should consolidate all its internet efforts behind a single brand (right now there are several, like Live and MSN). The company could probably buy YHOO, AOL, and Facebook right now for $20B cash and roll them into its MSN. A better idea would be to spin off its internet assets into YHOO. [Silicon Alley Insider]