The Zen of Web

Afraid that it will get caught up in a long legal battle with the government, Google today announced that it would widthdraw from the advertising partnership with Yahoo that would have allowed Google to serve text ads on Yahoo’s search engine.

This isn’t really a huge setback for Google as it is doing just fine with or without this deal. However, it does leave Yahoo in a difficult place as it was the main reason Yahoo was able to fend off Microsoft’s hostile takeover attempt.

As they would say… the saga continues… Let’s see what will happen next. I wonder who will blink first. Microsoft or Yahoo? One way or another, it is indeed possible and even very likely that they will now go back to negotiating table and try to work something out. We’ll see…

written by Allen \\ tags: Google, Microsoft, Yahoo

Read about this today that Microsoft will offer free software licenses and support/guidance to startups opting to use their technology platform. The catch is that the startup needs to be invited into the program so it’s not just any aspiring Internet company.

You can read more here and on the official page.

Frankly I don’t know how it will be received. Startups have so many open source alternatives to choose from. I wouldn’t bother with Microsoft technologies myself, either. But with that said, this is a good move by Microsoft, even if a little too late. I would’ve done this a long time ago… Well, better late than never…

written by Allen \\ tags: Microsoft

News came out that Facebook.com’s search functionality had integrated Microsoft’s Live Search and can now be used to search the web. Not surprising when you consider that Microsoft is an investor in Facebook. But when you really think about it, this is just as silly as anything goes. Who in the world is on Facebook and wants to use it to search the web? I know I don’t. Even if you already prefered Live Search over Google, this still is very counter-intuitive. Further more, Facebook’s execution of the search results conforms to the design style of the rest of the site, which is to say that it’s not your typical search engine. I simply don’t like it… The last bit to consider is this; it’s not clear how Microsoft can really monetize from this integration, even as the result page does display related text ads.

Nice try, Microsoft… But if you really want to gain grounds on Google, you gotta try harder than this.

written by Allen \\ tags: Facebook, Live Search, Microsoft

I’m totally speculating here, of course — I’m not somebody who’d have any such insider information. But I think what I’m suggesting now does seem somewhat possible…

Could Microsoft never really intend to buy Yahoo from the start?

Before Microsoft publicly announced their bid to buy Yahoo, people (as in shareholders) weren’t happy with its declining share price. And for sure people were saying that Yahoo needed to better compete with Google in search advertising (but I actually don’t necessary feel that way myself). But what people weren’t saying back then was that Yahoo didn’t have a future as an independent company. People saw Yahoo as a powerful brand and understand its position as the Internet company with the most aggregated pageviews. Somehow after Microsoft came into the picture, people suddenly said Yahoo needed to be acquired.

Why? All for maximizing shareholder value? Whatever…

I’m just thinking… Maybe someone foresaw the tailspinning Yahoo would be in today and advised Steve Ballmer to make a move. The purpose would not be to actually buy Yahoo but to put it in a situation where it would be busy regrouping and could no longer compete effectively with Microsoft. As we have found out now, the #1 got bigger, but at least Microsoft has a chance becoming #2…

We may not ever find out. But could this be possible? Most definitely!!!

written by Allen \\ tags: Microsoft, Yahoo