Yahoo! Makes Its Pitch in Google's Shadow

Google may not formally be on the agenda at Yahoo!'s (YHOO Quote) analyst day Thursday. But it will be lurking in the background just the same.

Yahoo! management likely won't articulate any comparisons between their company and Google, the search engine company that recently filed for a $2.7 billion initial public offering, says one Internet analyst.

But by talking about improving margins and a full-service offering for advertisers, Yahoo! will try to douse some of the enthusiasm that Google's IPO filing has sparked among investors, predicts the analyst.

"I think people are expecting comparison points with Google, and I think they'll be there," says Mark Mahaney of American Technology Research. "But I think they'll be indirect, not direct. It wouldn't be the style of this management team to go out there and make direct comparisons with Google." ...