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Bid Kicks Off Clash of the Internet Titans

Proposed Microsoft/Yahoo! merger signals showdown with Google

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Feb 2, 2008 10:14 AM CST
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(Newser) – Analysts agree that Microsoft's bold $44.6-billion bid for Yahoo marks the start of a big push by Microsoft to challenge Google's Web dominance. The move is a dramatic change in tactics for Microsoft, which likes to build new businesses on its own, writes Steve Lohr in a New York Times analysis, and an admission of failure. "This just shows how worried Microsoft is by Google," an expert tells Lohr.

A merger could help Microsoft build a big enough presence online to compete head-on with Google for advertising, but the real MicroYahoo-Google showdown may not even happen over search, writes Chris Wilson in Slate. Yahoo is stronger as a portal than as a search engine, and as people start to do more tasks such as word processing and photo-album-building online, a 'Yacrosoft' colossus could be ideally placed to leap ahead of Google.

A Times Square news ticker flashes a headline about Microsoft above a billboard for Yahoo! in New York in this Friday, May 4, 2007 file photo. Microsoft Corp. has pounced on slumping Internet icon Yahoo Inc. on Friday, Feb. 1, 2008, with an unsolicited takeover offer of $44.6 billion...
A Times Square news ticker flashes a headline about Microsoft above a billboard for Yahoo! in New York in this Friday, May 4, 2007 file photo. Microsoft Corp. has pounced on slumping Internet icon Yahoo...   (Associated Press)
Projected images of Google and Yahoo are shown on the floor of Google's New York office on Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008 in New York. Microsoft Corp. is making an unsolicited $44.6 billion offer for Yahoo Inc., an Internet icon and one the best known Web portals, in a move...
Projected images of Google and Yahoo are shown on the floor of Google's New York office on Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008 in New York. Microsoft Corp. is making an unsolicited $44.6 billion offer for Yahoo Inc.,...   (Associated Press)
This combination of two photos shows Microsoft founder Bill Gates, left, and Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang. Microsoft Corp. on Friday, Feb. 1, 2008 pounced on slumping Internet icon Yahoo Inc. with an unsolicited takeover offer of $44.6 billion in its boldest bid yet to challenge Google Inc.'s dominance...
This combination of two photos shows Microsoft founder Bill Gates, left, and Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang. Microsoft Corp. on Friday, Feb. 1, 2008 pounced on slumping Internet icon Yahoo Inc. with an unsolicited...   (Associated Press)
The Yahoo Center office building is seen in Santa Monica, Calif. Friday, Feb. 2, 2008. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
The Yahoo Center office building is seen in Santa Monica, Calif. Friday, Feb. 2, 2008. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)   (Associated Press)
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Could the deal create a challenge to Google?
Los Angeles Times

Best and worst-case scenarios for the Web
Washington Post

A merger may not be enough
Wired

 
Yahoo • Google • Internet • Microsoft • search engine • cloud computing

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