Oh well, if you can’t do it yourself, buy it or join them. Merging with Yahoo! (or buying it) is a logical course of action for Microsoft who has shown to be largely unable to confront Google on its home turf - the Internet. Coupled with Google’s recent acquisition of the advertising company DoubleClick, Microsoft sorely needs a big online ad marketplace.
The consequences of such a merger are hard to predict, but should it happen, and with the recent hate of the big media companies towards YouTube, Google will definitely start feeling somewhat like John Rambo - alone against everyone.
Talks about the merger first emerged a year ago, and now Wall Street Journal reports that the two giants are talking again. Hurry up, Microsoft; in couple of years Yahoo might be buying you.
*Update: Mashable.com puts the pricetag on the deal at $50 billion.
Naah.
There is an unconfirmed story I heard from West coast yesterday morning that Google may be thinking of moving on Yahoo in a hostile bid, and this may be forcing Microsoft’s hand - a similar theory is found here at makeyougohmm.com where the advice is to watch out for eBay and Yahoo joining forces as a more natural fit. That works for me.
See http://www.makeyougohmm.com/20070504/4468/