AOL Jumps Into the Ring with Microsoft, Yahoo!, Google 109
mikkl666 writes "Even just since this morning, there's much to report in the ongoing fight between Microsoft and Yahoo!. After Yahoo! announced yesterday that they are testing Google AdSense, Microsoft reacted with a comment pointing out that 'any definitive agreement between Yahoo! and Google would consolidate over 90% of the search advertising market in Google's hands.' Ironically, they complain that 'this would make the market far less competitive.' Both companies try to team up with strong partners, as well. Yahoo! and AOL are now closing in on a deal to combine their Internet operations. And of course, this morning's news was that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. is apparently in talks for a joint bid for Yahoo!"
This morning's new (Score:5, Funny)
Re:This morning's new (Score:5, Funny)
LOL. No articles, adjectives, verbs, adverbs reqd. (Score:5, Funny)
Microsoft.
The parent comment: "The great slashdot editors apparently thought that Microsoft deserved an entire sentence all to itself."
LOL. It amazes me how little Slashdot editors have learned over the years. Let that be a lesson to anyone who spends time playing video games. You need all your time learning how the world works. There is no time to spend being an angry button-presser.
Or, theory 2, maybe stories about Microsoft only need one proper noun. Articles, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs are understood. No need to repeat words like "evil", "Ballmer", "chair", "monopoly", "Chief of Grief", or "Software's Dr. Death".
That's an idea for a story submission. The entire Slashdot story could be just one word, "Microsoft". I'm sure there would be hundreds of comments. I know I'd post my usual comment: "The problem with Vista is that buyers are becoming technically knowledgeable enough that they don't want to be beta testers of a very unfinished product that requires them to buy more powerful hardware. Remember that Windows XP Service Pack 2 was released only 3 years ago. Before that was 3 years during which every Windows XP customer was a beta tester of a very unfinished product that didn't even handle USB very well."
Re:1 word story, hundreds on comments... (Score:2)
So not spending extra words citing your idea means you can bring the copyright angle in as well?
DEFENSE! (Score:3)
C'mon. Yahoo is pluckings now. Default to Google, if no Microsoft buy.
Yahoo is dying, Netcraft doesn't need to confirm. (Score:2)
Yup, Yahoo! is now officially dead and the buzzards are just fighting to see who gets to rip off the more choice hunks of meat from the bones.
Sad, but everybody should have seen this coming for at least five years so it is hard to be shocked or anything.
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``The AOL-Yahoo thing reminds me of two men drowning, both grabbing on to each other,'' said Mike Holland, who oversees more than $4 billion at Holland & Co. in New York, including Microsoft shares. ``It usually doesn't end in a pretty way or a smart way or an effective way.''
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This isn't about search - it's barely about advertising.
Re:Yahoo is dying, Netcraft doesn't need to confir (Score:2)
Re:Yahoo is dying, Netcraft doesn't need to confir (Score:4, Informative)
Yup, Yahoo! is now officially dead and the buzzards are just fighting to see who gets to rip off the more choice hunks of meat from the bones.
Wow, $4 billions in profits [google.com] is dead?
FalconRe:Yahoo is dying, Netcraft doesn't need to confir (Score:5, Funny)
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The AOl, Newscorp stuff, is jus
Yahoo, Micorsoft, and New Corp (Score:2)
The AOl, Newscorp stuff, is just business as usual, a means by which to force up M$ bid
Actually News Corp proposed joining with Microsoft to buy Yahoo! "Microsoft & News Corp. Joint Bid For Yahoo" [webpronews.com]. News Corp-Microsoft talks are still going on on a joint venture to acquire Yahoo!.
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So does News Corp see M$/MSN as a potential partner, or a competitor to be defeated (bearing in mind News Corp is a substantial content holder and M$ is bascially a content vacuum, having failed miserably in it's attempt to create content via MSN).
While M$ has substantial cash reserves, there is no real effective way f
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M$ is talking but is Newscorp really listening.
It appears News Corp may want Yahoo! for itself:
"News Corp [reuters.com] continues to talk directly with Yahoo on reaching a deal without Microsoft."
Why would News Corp burden itself with a known untrusted partner like M$. Look at what News Corp achieved with Myspace in a very short time.
That might be something to look out for, a combined Myspace/Yahoo!. Though I'd prefer Yahoo! to remain independent, I can see News Corp doing something good. My 1 concern would b
Re:This morning's new (Score:4, Funny)
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Post your original submission here. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Post your original submission here. (Score:4, Interesting)
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Do I win the prize for the most anally retentive grammarnazi on Slashdot?
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Monopolies (Score:1)
http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=8
The good news is that OSX is slowly gaining momentum. I see nothing wrong with Google providing Yahoo's ad service. If Google can do it better and bring in more money, then let them do what they do be
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Ooooh... *sighs* I had something to say but I can't remember it now. Microsoft. LAWL.
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Ironically? (Score:2)
Ironically? I would have said "Cynically", even if for once Microsoft has a valid point!
.
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Fsck Ironically, Cynically... (Score:5, Funny)
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The meaning of most words has always changed over time. Learn to live with it, or grow to be a grumpy old man.
Re:Ironically? (Score:4, Interesting)
Another example is "a tough row to hoe" (talking about potato farming) turning into "a tough road to hoe" (which makes no sense). The word "road" has not changed meaning, neither has the word "row" -- but people misuse it in a way that makes the word use and the sentence use cease to have any meaningful contribution to the conversation other than to make the speaker/writer sound more knowledgeable to those who don't know what they are actually trying to say.
For an example of a word that has undergone a myriad of transformations over the years, look at the word "nice". For a simpler example in recent history, there's "gay". For a different kind of transformation where the activity referenced has stayed the same but the connotations have changed, look at the word "jazz".
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Maybe that's really "a tough road to ho", meaning, it's a difficult street for prostitutes to earn a living on?
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True, bad grammar can mangle meaning though.
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Microsloth seem to think that someone having a larger market share in something that it is wrong. But they seem to have forgotten that they donimate the desk top operating system market with an even larger market share than the 90% they quote for a yahoo/google merger.
What is there to say..."big deal microsoft, if you cant stand the heat stay out of the kitchen"
If microsloth or microsloth/newscorp buy yahoo my next action will be to close my accounts and never use a yahoo service again.
IMO: AOL+Yahoo is better than MS+Yahoo (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:IMO: AOL+Yahoo is better than MS+Yahoo (Score:4, Insightful)
The real issue of a MS Monopily in the search market is that they will leverage IE 7+ and Windows to get all the features leving Macs and Linux user using a Sub Par version of the web site.
Why is MS Scared to death of google? It is because they are offering for Free off the web High Quality application that really don't care on what OS or office suite or browser you use. Grandted google docs is a bit clunky but it has potentional for greatness. And like Microsoft sucesss it just needs a competive advantage not be the best product.
microsoft afraid of moving away from the desktop (Score:2, Interesting)
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Microsoft is afraid of moving apps off the desktop. In a world where computers boot a simple OS, then open a web browser to get all work (email, documents, spreadsheets, everything else) done scares the hell out of microsoft. That is not the business model that microsoft has been using. I don't think microsoft could switch to that kind of business model any time soon.
Luckily for Microsoft, nor can the world. If the software world turns and now marches swiftly toward browser apps, I bet it would take ten years to get to the point where it would begin to be comparable with local apps in terms of both functionality and user base.
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Microsoft is afraid of moving apps off the desktop (Score:2)
In a world where computers boot a simple OS, then open a web browser to get all work (email, documents, spreadsheets, everything else) done scares the hell out of microsoft. That is not the business model that microsoft has been using.
Actually MS has been working on offering software as a service [pcworld.com] for some years. Just log into the website and there's your documents, much like Google Apps.
Falcon
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soft as a service (Score:2)
Except for the fact that it would need Internet Explorer to get all the features.
While that would be a stupid move I can see Microsoft requiring IE for web based apps.
FalconRe: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:IMO: AOL+Yahoo is better than MS+Yahoo (Score:5, Funny)
You gotta admit though, "Goohoo" just might be worth it for the name alone.
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I'd rather have 2 big players instead of one colossus Search company that if things go wrong, the whole planet suffers.
Think: backup Search company.
search monopolies? (Score:2)
I'd rather have 2 big players instead of one colossus Search company that if things go wrong, the whole planet suffers.
I don't think this is quite true. Unlike an OS or apps it's easy to switch your search engine. While I mostly use Google I also use About [about.com], Alta Vista [altavista.com], Ask.com [ask.com], and Mooter [mooter.com]. On the other hand, if you're using online apps then yes it can be hard to switch. However I'd rather have my apps running and my docs stored locally. At most I'd vpn into my home server while on the road.
Falcon
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There are huge swaths of Open Source beyond the Exchange Server Alturnative, such as a large number of Web services and various Webby 2.0-ish type projects. Check it out here: http://developer.yahoo.com/ [yahoo.com]. The code snips are extreamly valuble tutorials. All this material will either be flushed or monitized onder Microsoft...
AOL is so cute... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:AOL is so cute... (Score:4, Funny)
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This one keeps coming back and gets more annoying every time. Kind of like the Vista advertisements.
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The option is burried somewhere, and when you disable it (presumably because you already hate it), it still does all this animation of the dog leaving, blocking everything until the animation ends.
I can only presume that the person who designed this system is a cat lover.
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Did I have a point?
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Heh they should all merge (Score:2)
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(For those that don't know, the parent's post is a reference to the movie Idiocracy. If you've never seen it, I highly suggest that you do.)
Late night Fights (Score:4, Funny)
Yahoo stumbles over and tags AOL, who does a Flying forearm smash to the face...
Starting to feel like we need a claymation Deathmatch for this.
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Alta Vista (Score:3, Interesting)
In the mean time, AltaVista is standing quietly in the corner nursing its drink, trying to muster up the courage to ask ChaCha for a dance. Awwwww :(
Do a search on Alta Vista some time, the results have Yahoo! stamped all over them. Whether that's because the results come from Yahoo! or Yahoo! provides any ads or something else I don't know.
FalconRe: (Score:1)
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Yahoo isn't just stamped on them, it is them. Do a search on yahoo and a search on Alta Vista. The results are carbon copies.
I didn't know this, I don't use Yahoo! for searches and haven't for years. Most of the tyme I use Google however I also use About.com [about.com], Altavista [altavista.com], Ask.com [ask.com], and Mooter [mooter.com].
Falcon
Yahoo and AOL (Score:4, Insightful)
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What? Surely others remember that sound clip. It was everywhere!
News Corp. (Score:5, Funny)
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Yahoo + AOL make bid for MSFT (Score:2)
Would *any* be an improvement? (Score:5, Insightful)
AOL+Yahoo doesn't strike me as being able to produce better services than Yahoo alone could. Or MS+Yahoo. Or any other combination.
The bigger a company is, the more cultural inertia it has, the less willing it is to try something new. Would strapping AOL's "never change anything" mentality to any company make it better? At least Microsoft has occasionally given one of its subdivisions such free-reign that it's been able to innovate (Microsoft mice, xbox360's networking features). Still, MS is mostly extra baggage.
Yahoo by itself is already producing tons of different services [wikipedia.org], on the off-chance that a handful will be successful. Combining with someone larger will certainly slow that down. Would that slowdown be offset by making some more likely to be successful? I doubt it.
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AOL+Yahoo doesn't strike me as being able to produce better services than Yahoo alone could. Or MS+Yahoo. Or any other combination.
It does me. You see right now in some markets there is competition, but MS is one of the players and they are breaking antitrust law to artificially gain more market share. When they manage to have enough market, they intentionally break compatibility to undermine competition (illegally). Then they try to use that to move into the next market and gain share not by offering something better, but by tying it to something you already have to use because MS has monopolized it.
Basically, anyone but MS, is a g
Oblig. (Score:1)
Well, crap... (Score:3, Funny)
Anyone else?
I'd also like to be taken into consideration as the father of Anna Nicole's baby.
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Creepy AOL+Yahoo merger image (Score:5, Funny)
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Now s/AIM guy/Steve Ballmer
Now that would be creepy.
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AOL + Yahoo = Odontophilia.
I must admit I never saw that one cumi...er, coming.
I never thought I'd say this but.. (Score:4, Insightful)
Delusional boys in Redmond (Score:3, Insightful)
The Redmond boys need to stick to copying software ideas and stay out of the big boy markets where they obviously are limited in mental maturity.
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Not delusional. Pragmatic.
"IBM and the Seven Dwarfs." Intel and AMD. Microsoft and Apple. Photoshop and "?" The tech sector has never been known for its competitive balance.
But to control 90% of the search based add market has very large implications.
It would be as if one
MICROHOOLA? (Score:1)
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Score:4, Funny)
Yahoo + AOL = Good
Yahoo + AOL + Microsoft = Bad
Yahoo + AOL + News Corp = Ugly
Merging (Score:5, Insightful)
Yahoo Shareholders Could Benefit from this. (Score:3, Insightful)
Looking at Time Warner's annual report you can see that from FY05 to FY07, AOL revenues are down 36%. Conversely, operating income excluding one-time items is up 21%.
This implies that the AOL division has remained profitable primarily by cost cutting, not by natural growth in its business. For example, it took them $7.52 to generate $1 of operating income in 2005. That ratio (revenue/operating income) is now down to $3.89.
Yahoo's business, on the other hand, is the mirror image of AOL's. Revenues from 2005-2007 are up 32.55%, while operating income is down 66.61%. This is mainly due to operating costs increasing 67% in the same period.
So essentially, you have a business, AOL, who sucks at generating revenue but is good at cutting costs, being bought out by a business, Yahoo, that is good at generating revenues (we'll see whether that holds in a recessionary environment), but horrible at keeping costs under control. If the two managements can learn from each other, this combination might actually work out for shareholders.
Of course, for Yahoo employees, it means pack your desks up because heads are rolling if YahAOL is formed.
Oh my.. (Score:2)
2) AOL and Yahoo partner
3) Microsoft and News Corp partner
4) Microsoft/News Corp buy AOL/Yahoo
5) Aomicrogoonewshoo Corp is formed?!
6)
7) Profit!!
-SixD
Wrong word... (Score:2)
what the summary really meant was:
Hypocritically, they complain that 'this would make the market far less competitive.'
I'd rather have Microsoft than Murdock (Score:2)
Hahahahaha! (Score:1)
"Microsoft reacted with a comment pointing out that 'any definitive agreement between Yahoo! and Google would consolidate over 90% of the search advertising market in Google's hands.'"
They were not complaining when... (Score:1)
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Broadband penetration in the US is under 50% of households. AOL's basic dial-up service is $10/mo. Your Mom & Pop ISP is probably not going to be able to beat that price.