The question that won’t go away: What comes after Yahoo?

During an appearance at the Citi Global Technology Conference on September 4 , Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell faced the same question that he’s been answering for months: What is Microsoft’s online strategy now that the company has decided against buying Yahoo? And Liddell’s answer to that question hasn’t changed: Microsoft will continue to grow its online business organically while making smaller acquisitions in the space. Liddell spoke and fielded questions for close to an hour. He brushed aside one attendee’s question about Microsoft’s thoughts on Google’s recently introduced Chrome browser by saying Microsoft constantly fields new competitors across all of its products. (Liddell’s hasty dismissal looked particularly bad, given the latest browser stats showing Internet Explorer continuing to lose market share , albeit, just a point.) Other Liddellisms from his appearance (which I listened to vi...