Microyahoo? YahooSoft? SoftYahoo?
Pretty ridiculous names, right?
I think its about as ridiculous as the merger itself. Can someone please explain how this helps either MS or Yahoo? You have two companies that have majorly different focuses. They both happen to be competing with the same company. Yahoo is a direct competitor. Microsoft is afraid that if they don’t get onto the playing field, they’re in trouble in the future world of computer software. Yahoo was originally based on Google’s search technology. Not sure if anyone has tried running the same searches on both Yahoo and Google, but from my experience Google’s results are generally dramatically better. And lets not even talk about Microsoft’s searches. Windows Live and MSN aren’t even in the same ballpark.
But search isn’t where the really money is anyway. Search attracts users to Google’s main site, but Google makes most of its money from advertising. Yahoo also does advertising. Advertising money, as you may have heard, is based on cookies. The more users an advertising company can get in their database of cookie-ified users, the more reach they have. And Google has the most reach. Microsoft has some reach and yahoo has a decent amount of reach, but combining the two just doesn’t a Google make.
And lets talk about quality for a moment. Google is known for their hiring techniques. Microsoft was too, but then it just became gigantor corp and its impossible to monitor all hiring at that size, though you do manage to attract some people due to your offerings if your competitor doesn’t get them first. Yahoo has some good people too due to their attractiveness. Google has always taken their hiring very seriously. Each person they hired since the beginning had to be a gem. So not only did they hire the best for themselves, they also took hiring potential away from companies such as Microsoft and Yahoo. Google’s people are just quality. Its that simple. They work hard, efficient, and smart. The company is focused from the top of the pyramid down to the lowest of the low (though they have a very flat and hence less bureaucractic and more efficient system).
Hopefully this is just a marketing tactic by Microsoft to get people to their own search sites or to start feeding the anti-google fire. Either way big bad Microsoft needs to leave our innocent Yahoo alone. Yahoo ain’t no Google, but it definitely ain’t no Microsoft neither.
Perhaps Microsoft has some other intention that they are not telling us. Like they really want Yahoo’s wonderful financial website, finance.yahoo.com. Or they just want to use their software experience to access the deleted Yahoo servers of yore to find the old Google search algorithms.
If this unfortunate merger does in fact take place, I would at least hope that Microsoft allows Yahoo to keep their name. This isn’t sanity world, this is corporate america people, so it may actually happen. And as my friend over at Landscapestartup.com would say Yahoo is headless and Microsoft is Jabba the Hut
Headless people (Corporations are people, too.) often tend to be spineless as well. Be strong Yahoo. Please be strong.
And in other news… Bill Gates is giving away all his money. Dear Bill, Please send a large check to the Beard Trimming Foundation for Bearded Men who Need New Trimmers.