YAHOO! Inc chief executive officer Jerry Yang, criticized by some investors for rejecting Microsoft Corp's US$47.5 billion takeover bid, said he'll consider selling to the software company or another bidder for the right price.

Yang will continue a strategy to boost Internet advertising sales and is speaking with other companies about ways to increase Yahoo's value. While Yahoo isn't for sale, the company would listen ?¨should somebody else come back someday and want to buy the company,? Yang said in an interview with Bloomberg News on Monday after the company's stock sank 15 percent.

"We've always felt the Yahoo platform has been undervalued or underappreciated by the marketplace," Yang said. "Our most important goal is to make sure we have a long-term competitive position."

Yang may find his job in jeopardy if his strategy fails or he can't boost the stock in a few months.

Investor Larry Haverty of Gamco Investors Inc wants progress by October. Analyst Ross Sandler of RBC Capital Markets said Yang will face scrutiny during the July 3 annual meeting. An idea to outsource more search advertising to Google Inc is already drawing criticism for risking customer defections to the competition.

"They'll be calling for his head then if by the end of the year there haven't been some substantial improvements," said analyst Brian Bolan of Jackson Securities LLC in Chicago, who recommends selling Yahoo shares. "Certainly he should be concerned about his job, and the shareholders are going to revolt at some point."

Yahoo passed up an offer of US$33 a share, saying the company is worth no less than US$37, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said on Saturday.

Yahoo rose US$1.10, or 4.5 percent, to US$25.47 in Germany yesterday from its Nasdaq Stock Market close. On Monday, the stock fell the most in almost two years. Microsoft climbed 36 cents, or 1.2 percent, to US$29.44 in Germany.

"His job is clearly on the line," said Peter Falvey, managing director at Revolution Partners, a Boston-based technology merger adviser. "Yahoo's going to be under a tremendous amount of pressure - the board, the CEO, the major shareholders."