Re:Microsoft may buy Yahoo and AOL if the latter two merge
by endtwist on Friday September 26, 2008 @04:02PM
(#316443)
I'm really curious to see what happens with this. Obviously, Microsoft wants to match (and eventually outdo) Google in the advertising market, hence their desperate attempts to swallow Yahoo.
Unfortunately, I don't actually think an acquisition like this will pan out for anyone -- neither Microsoft, nor the customers. Mind you, my commentary is purely armchair speculation, but I really can't see how this will put Microsoft on any positive track. Without a doubt, after attaining Yahoo/AOL, everything will receive some sort of (unnecessary) overhaul to better integrate it with their business. This could, in turn, anger a hell of a lot of users of services that Yahoo provides. As well, I can see AOL disappearing into MSN, and Yahoo being refocused and shrunk to merely a marketing sector of Microsoft. Everything else will either be discarded, sold off, or overhauled on a massive scale.
Perhaps I'm completely wrong about everything, but I don't like the direction this is going. Also, this is all very speculative to begin with, since it relies on a very significant sequence of events.
Re:Microsoft may buy Yahoo and AOL if the latter two merge
by iigs on Friday September 26, 2008 @08:16PM
(#316625)
I guess if you're #3, and you buy and extinguish #2 that makes you #2 by default.
Somehow this gets by the anti-trust people because #1 is so much bigger.
This is an ego "measuring contest" plain and simple. There's no synergy to be had here -- AOL is lost in the weeds, and is at best a decent co-brand for content on news sites. Yahoo's corporate culture appears to have no synergy with the evil empire whatsoever; in fact, it seems that they've gone on as long as they have using MS as an enemy to rally against.
Bringing dead weight and a struggling enemy on board doesn't sound like the basis of a coherent strategy for taking on a master in the game.
Unfortunately, I don't actually think an acquisition like this will pan out for anyone -- neither Microsoft, nor the customers. Mind you, my commentary is purely armchair speculation, but I really can't see how this will put Microsoft on any positive track. Without a doubt, after attaining Yahoo/AOL, everything will receive some sort of (unnecessary) overhaul to better integrate it with their business. This could, in turn, anger a hell of a lot of users of services that Yahoo provides. As well, I can see AOL disappearing into MSN, and Yahoo being refocused and shrunk to merely a marketing sector of Microsoft. Everything else will either be discarded, sold off, or overhauled on a massive scale.
Perhaps I'm completely wrong about everything, but I don't like the direction this is going. Also, this is all very speculative to begin with, since it relies on a very significant sequence of events.
Somehow this gets by the anti-trust people because #1 is so much bigger.
This is an ego "measuring contest" plain and simple. There's no synergy to be had here -- AOL is lost in the weeds, and is at best a decent co-brand for content on news sites. Yahoo's corporate culture appears to have no synergy with the evil empire whatsoever; in fact, it seems that they've gone on as long as they have using MS as an enemy to rally against.
Bringing dead weight and a struggling enemy on board doesn't sound like the basis of a coherent strategy for taking on a master in the game.
Microsoft, Yahoo! and AOL are the new OGC.