Yahoo says Google deal a faster track to growth

SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc said on Thursday its Web advertising resale pact with Google offers faster payback than a Microsoft deal, but it declined to rule out future pacts with Microsoft.

"I believe it (the deal) puts Yahoo on a faster track to creating value," Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang told investors on a conference call following the announcement of the Google-Yahoo pact.

Yang emphasized that the pact with Google does not rule out a potential merger, including a Microsoft deal, but added that the company was moving on to focus its own business, including the Google partnership.

Earlier on Thursday, Yahoo said it had ended all talks with Microsoft, either on a full or partial acquisition of Yahoo assets. Microsoft issued its own statement saying it was still open to an alternative Yahoo deal.

Also during the conference call, Yahoo President Susan Decker said her company had negotiated a "competitive" revenue split with Google, but declined to spell out the percentage cut that Google would pay Yahoo in traffic acquisition costs.

(Reporting by Eric Auchard in San Francisco and Michele Gershberg in New York)