So it would seem that Yahoo is starting to flail around a little bit while under the waiting and patient gaze of Microsoft, who may actually be able to make their purchase for a better price than what they originally offered!
Smart!
There's a bunch of shareholder groups all filing suits against Yahoo for not accepting Microsoft's original offer, and Yahoo is having difficulty finding anyone else to come riding to the charge.
No fear for Google though. Not yet, at least. Even if (when) the sale goes through, the combined Microsoft and Yahoo companies would only command about 33% of the Internet search market share, but it sure would lead to great inroads in the display advertising space for Microsoft. Clearly Microsoft feels the same way, and they've decided to move forward and hire Innisfree, which is a merger firm. Talk about getting prepared!
One of the questions that came to MY mind during this whole refusal to sell was... If Yahoo is waiting for someone bigger and willing to pay more to come along, and they know that it can't be Google, then who are they expecting? Well, regardless, it's a good thing for the executive body that they have implemented their salary safety nets so that if (when) this takeover happens, they'll be good for 2 years with pay if they are ousted.
Again...Smart!
But what of our various account managers if (when) this buy takes place?
I have to say at this point that regardless of all of the corporate and comparative marketplace and market share battling, and friendly or hostile taking over, it's all about the results for me. Having multiple contacts at each of these esteemed Search Engines, I have been able to form exceptional working relationships, and each of them work so diligently to ensure that we are provided with the best customer service possible from their respective platforms, and I gotta tell you, they are ALL marvelous!
It's just a fact that when someone makes things easier for you, you try to keep them near you all the time, so regardless of what transpires from a possible merger...
Dear Microsoft,
Please leave my Yahoo account professionals intact. You'll find that they are as friendly and professional as my outstanding adCenter and AdWords account professionals and will remain as assets to your company(s).
Thanks!
The Doug
aka Doug Gebhardt
I think Yahoo are currently just praying in the hope that some Guardian Angel will swoop down from the heavens to buy them out.
Their delay in accepting a Microsoft offer seems to be more of a last ditch attempt at a face-saving exercise. One that, if the shareholders are successful in their lawsuits, could blow up in their collective faces.
It’s a sad time for search engines, with no feasible competition in the running, and a Google monopoly ever closer. A private monopoly in any industry can never be a good thing.
I agree with you, Nick. It must be a little bit painful to have a competitor come in and take over. They have, however, created enough time for implementing things such as the salary safety nets. Also, although a monopoly in any industry is always looked upon poorly, it sure does create a hunger to break it, don’t you find?
Agreed, Doug. But whether that hunger can manifest into a feasible crack at the monopoly beast, is a different matter. I think if nobody can hold a candle to Google at the moment, whilst competition (in whatever form) exists, once they’ve consolidated that monopoly, the task will a practically unassailable one.
I hope I’m proved to be wrong, but I can see the only way that the crown will slip from Google’s head is by their own hand, not anybody elses.
Interesting debate 🙂
Remember when Google first started Alta Vista was dominating the market.
You never know who’s going to come out with the next best thing. If that were to happen I doubt people would show brand loyalty to a search engine.
Also, although Google has the search market share if MSN were to buy Yahoo who’s the underdog in that scenario?
I really didnt think this was going to go through but after reading the above it sounds like just a matter of time. Why are Yahoo wanting to sell?
Hi Make Money Blogging. It’s not that Yahoo WANTS to sell, it’s that they want to get their shares up to $40 per share, and the Microsoft bid was unsolicited but would have earned them so much more than what they were sitting at per share, so the shareholders raised a little bit of a fuss, making the executive body have to look for other ways to increase the share value.
Exactly, Jennifer! I also can’t help but think of the one hardly anyone thinks of anymore, and that’s the phone company. I remember when there was only one, LOL.
But back in days of AOL, search engines were not the complex beings they are today. It was the fact that Google greatly improved search and search relevancy that put them at the top of their game. In my opinion, it’s going to take something just as advanced (maybe something along the lines of Yahoo’s stab at semantic search) to topple that. Without this advancement, it’s going to be very difficult to gain a substantial foothold. In the UK at least, Google is the byword for search.
Who knows? I’m probably barking up the wrong tree entirely, and will one day find myself eating these recklessly chosen words. 🙂
Ha ha! You give good comment, Nick. Yes, it will most definitely take an advanced ability to topple Google. The first step will be to find something that gets enough buzz, and they better hope that they have some things up their sleeves once they get the buzz.