Why a Microsoft + Yahoo Merger Will Work

Whatever happened to AskJeeves?  I miss that butler.  How search engines work are a mystery to most.  But, I don't think that many would argue that gargantuan amounts of money have been made in bringing order to Internet chaos--and there's still so much more potential in this area.

Search engine wars are past "heating up" -- they are at a boiling point with the recent news that Microsoft has their eyes seriously set on Yahoo, offering some 44 billion and change in their offer last week.  Never mind that Yahoo was valued at 50 billion in May of last year when Microsoft made casual overtures to the search engine firm.  Microsoft is so set on this offer that they announced they were actually going to borrow money to make sure it happens this time.  They mean business.

Yahoo missed some great opportunities in late 2004 and on to catch up to Google.  Why?  The answers aren't clear.  After all, they were the first major contender to embrace RSS.  Their personal portal interface was clean and simple with lots of innovative features long before Google.  And, the coolest little features and apps just keep on coming.  I have to admit I am a bit biased to their Y! logo.  (Just call me "Y", too.)

Google has been more "open" than Yahoo.  And, they seem to be much better at marketing, PR, and generally gaining attention and buzz.  I wonder if it's because "G" comes before "Y" in the alphabet?  That's as much sense as I can make of it.

So, why could Microsoft's offer to Yahoo be a good thing?  Microsoft has never been known for the quality of their software.  And, their search so far has fallen flat.  But, they are incredibly talented at sales, marketing, and business development.  Yahoo is innovative and a very "awake" contender in the search engine market.  They seem to be able to spot future trends and pounce on them.  Since they aren't good at marketing themselves, I think the Microsoft / Yahoo merger could actually work.  In fact, it may be just the thing to propel Yahoo to the forefront of the search engine market.

Or, Microsoft could fill it with Active X and make it virtually unusable on Firefox.

OK, so Microsoft could do some things that might make Yahoo unattractive.  But, why would they?  Microsoft marketing + Yahoo innovation = a good thing.