Yahoo Considers Options For Kelkoo

Yahoo said yesterday that it is weighing "strategic options" for its online shopping comparison site Kelkoo that is based in Paris.

"One of the priorities we have identified is to improve the performance of Kelkoo," Yahoo told the Financial Times. "Today we are starting a process to give Kelkoo more independence – while we evaluate strategic options for the long-term future of the business."

Yahoo has never released revenue figures for Kelkoo since it purchased the company in 2004 for about $575 million. Kelhoo has faced strong competition in Europe from both Google and Microsoft.

Yahoo UK managing director Glen Drury told Forbes in an interview that Kelkoo has its good and bad points saying "I think that Kelkoo and all its competitors need to really re-think the way that they’re going to run their businesses in the future."

Scott Kessler, an equity analyst with Standards & Poor said that Yahoo was in transition and reviewing all of its operations. He pointed out that Kelkoo has not lived up to expectations and that there was added pressure to examine strategic alternatives.

Google had the most traffic in the majority of European countries in June, with Microsoft trailing and Yahoo in third according to a study from comScore.