As CEO Jerry Yang said, Microsoft's unwanted bid has been a "galvanizing event for everyone at Yahoo." The company still faces major hurdles--including
various shareholder lawsuits for refusing the deal, the threat of a possible board infiltration by Microsoft, and the public perception of the brand as damaged goods.
"It's terribly ironic that it took Microsoft's bid to, in effect, wake Yahoo up," Sterling says. "And while nobody can predict the outcome with certainty, which has grown more hazy in recent weeks, Yahoo for the time being seems to be back on course."