The surprise unsolicited offer that Microsoft sent to Yahoo today is a testament of the position that both Yahoo and Microsoft have found themselves.
Microsoft,the late comer to the internet age has been playing catch up ever since. They have championed the browser with Internet Explorer and did in fact have the first free email service Hotmail. But Hotmail has long been eclipsed by.. well actually by Yahoo Mail. With the coming of companies like Facebook, MySpace and others it has become clear that it’s not even about the browser, it’s about services. Plus, MSN and it’s services have been dragging along in a very distant 3rd place for search.
On the other side there is Yahoo. Yahoo has been in a slide for sometime. It’s flag ship portal yahoo.com is the most visited site in the US, but the Google is still far ahead in search and advertising. Yahoo Mail is the No. 1 free consumer e-mail service, but there only other successful ventures are Yahoo Answers and Yahoo Finance. Plus, their stock value has also been on the slide.
As the next age is opening up, where the internet is playing a huge role, Microsoft is looking to sure up something to throw at Google. However, Google is so far ahead of anyone else in the search arena commanding 2/3+ of the global market, that catching the may prove impossible. Many analysts are comparing the possible merger to the historical AOL/Time Warner deal, which in many peoples eyes has failed to deliver. On the upside for Microsoft the merger, or more accurately stated, takeover would help MS leap into second place in the search industry. Which is only made possible by eliminating a competitor.
Is this just an act of desperation from Microsoft? Is it too little too late? Can Google be caught? One thing is sure, if this goes through it will certainly have an impact on the internet of today.
