Microsoft and Yahoo to take on Google
At the risk of sounding like someone who really despises most things Microsoft, here we go again. The Associated Press is reporting that Microsoft and Yahoo are close to a deal that would partner the two giants in an effort to overtake Google in the online search engine market. As it stands right now, Google has a 67% share of the market, with Yahoo coming in a very distant 2nd place with only 20% in the United States. Microsoft has been lagging so far behind the top two for so long, I am not sure if they should even be mentioned, but their aspirations are still high.
Nearly two years ago, Microsoft tried to buy Yahoo, thinking that would give them the leg up they needed to overtake Google. Yahoo resisted the takeover and Microsoft withdrew it’s offer. According to The Associated Press article, the deal will not require Microsoft to pay Yahoo up front and this is a change from Yahoo’s previous position. Chief Executive Carol Bartz had said she would only join Microsoft for “boatloads of money”.
I wish the two companies lots of luck in this venture because they are going to need it. There is a reason Google has such a high market share of the online search engine market. First of all, they do have agreements with Opera Software and Mozilla to be used as the default search engine in their respective web browsers, Opera and Firefox. These agreements have to help, but there is another, more prevailing reason for their success. Google’s search engine is simply better. Once I get past the sponsored results, I can usually find what I am looking for in a very short time. The results are simply much better than anything Yahoo or Microsoft can muster up with their own search engines.
For years, those of us who like one web browser or another have participated in what we all call browser wars. Each of us want our favorite web browser to have a good market share, be it Opera, Firefox, or Internet Explorer. Sometimes these browser wars have gotten downright nasty, but I have a feeling that is nothing compared to how nasty it will get if Microsoft is able to use Yahoo to mount a challenge to Google and it’s massive share of the online search engine market. If it does, it will certainly cut into it’s online advertising market, which is where Google gets the bulk of it’s revenue. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
I thought “BING” was suppose to be Microsoft’s challenge to Google. I’ve checked Bing a couple of times and compared their search to Google, and wasn’t impressed. Their ads are promoting that “other” search engines give you nothing but garbage, while Bing will help you make better decisions. Now MS has Yahoo? Will MS get rid of Bing now? I Google, I even use it as a verb. Yahoo never reached that level.
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Larry – I just found an article that says Bing will be the power behind Yahoo (whatever that means). What I really love though is a statement from MS/Yahoo:
A joint statement from the pair said the 10-year search deal will give advertisers and users a choice instead of relying “on one company that dominates more than 70% of all search.”
Interesting that MS is getting all whiny about another company being “too dominate”! Oh the glorious irony!!
Oh yeah, the glorious irony did not escape me when I heard that as well. Kind of like the pot calling the kettle black, in my opinion.
I am thinking I heard on a news story that Bing will be the technology behind the Yahoo search engine. I am like you. I have tried to use the other search engines, just to see what they were like and they are not very user friendly. I will stick to Google.
I’ve always used Google because I haven’t found another search engine that works as well. I don’t like yahoo and I also didn’t like Bing so I guess that means I am staying with Google.
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Although I like Bing and think that it is a good alternative to Google Search, my searches are with the Big G primarily. I don’t see any reason for me to switch and I think many web users are thinking the same way.
Still, it is interesting that Yahoo agreed to this one year after turning down an offer from Microsoft to purchase their business for $47.5 billion. Now worth only $22 billion, there must be some people in Yahoo’s executive office who are kicking themselves!
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Yeah, they have to be kicking themselves. Refusing a chance to sell themselves for nearly $50 billion and then coming back around to broker a deal that doesn’t even give them cash up front doesn’t seem to be very smart. At least not in my books.
Well, Larry, I’m not shy about saying Microsoft is not my company of choice. Apple won’t get any more of my money, either. Microhoo is going to try very hard to unseat the champ, but I don’t see that happening right away.
BTW, I’ve found a nice search engine that doesn’t keep user data. From Wikipedia: “On June 27, 2006, Ixquick.com became the first search engine to delete private details of its users [4]. IP addresses and other personal information are deleted within 48 hours of a search. [5] Ixquick also does not share its users’ personal information with other search engines or with the provider of its sponsored results. [6]”
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Thanks for stopping by, Pastor Ron.
I like your choice of nickname for the new search engine. Microhoo fits it well.