If there was ever any question about whether or not Google liked Microsoft, we now know for certain that they don’t. Google actually wrote-up a Press Release to talk about Microsoft’s offer to acquire Yahoo for $44.6 billion. Here are some of the key words and phrases I picked out of the announcement that give us an idea of how they feel about Microsoft’s proposal:
- hostile bid
- troubling
- inappropriate and illegal influence
- monopolies
- unfair practices
- unfairly limit
Google does not like this offer one bit and it is obvious why. They even point out that both Microsoft and Yahoo have an “overwhelming share of instant messaging and web email accounts” which they do. On the other hand though, if you take a look at search market share, a combined Yahoo and Microsoft would get about 33% of the share while Google has 60%. In some areas Google dominates, but in others they wouldn’t.
Now that Microsoft put their offer on the table, other companies (like News Corp.) and financial institutions may come with an offer as well. An article in the Wall Street Journal points out how even Google wants to “Help Yahoo Fight Off Microsoft.” Their offer is to form some type of alliance which would be an alternative to “giving in to Microsoft.” Can you imagine the scrutiny Google would face if they did in fact form an alliance with Yahoo? Then we’d see Microsoft throwing their arms up and screaming “Monopoly” as Google just did with Microsoft’s offer.
Over at Yahoo headquarters, a memo to employees said: “We want to emphasize that absolutely no decisions have been made — and, despite what some people have tried to suggest, there’s certainly no integration process underway.” All we know is that Yahoo has some big decisions ahead of them which will ultimately affect their future. Any thoughts on which route they should take?
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Tags: Google, Web Sites, Microsoft, Yahoo
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What if Google bought Yahoo?
I’m sure there be some legal trouble there but it would be interesting.
“If there was ever any question about whether or not Google liked Microsoft, we now know for certain that they don’t”
True, you’re not asking who likes who - but I couldn’t help myself from laughing and making silly voices with alterations of this sentence for at least five minutes (truly a crowd pleaser).
On a personal level, I always had a love-hate feeling for Y! (they do some right and some wrong, but at least they do no evil intentionally) while feeling G wants to share the web with the world (with a few tweaks to make a living from it [ok, a bit more than that, but still sharing and not being evil is part of the master plan]) and having a negative feeling towards most things M$ (even though I’m a master developer in a couple of languages and suites created by them)..
In an attempt to be neutral and fair, I thought about who would laugh the most about a deal, and actually I have a notion that MS would become the biggest losers in this deal. They want to swallow a company a quarter their size, which has the principle of being relaxed, open and open to suggestions, into the vast behemoth which is M$, a gray old thing which still has barely understood the principles of the Internet - a presence in any software area, never being satisfied before achieving total dominance and not really caring about what users want instead of simply looking for the fast dollar (did you noticed the value of that lately by the way?).
Furthermore, if MS swallows Y!, a multitude of the most innovative people at Y! will jump ship in disagreement, leaving only existing systems to adjust (which takes a lot longer without the people who thought them up) and no people left to innovate for the future which they were probably hoping to achieve.
MS, if you want success online in the way you have offline with your OS and Office Package, I suggest you analyze a bit more before you act, or you will keep trailing Google (or maybe you even have to give it up). Buying Y! is not the right move - the companies are too different and the move will take too long
@ David Hune - Funny you called Microsoft a “gray old thing.” I’m beginning to think that before they even think about purchasing a company like Yahoo, they need to work on improving their image. Too many people view Microsoft as old and gray and “un-cool.” Maybe they need some marketing help from Apple?