Comments on: In Focus: Microsoft to Eat Yahoo http://pjmedia.com/blog/in_focus_microsoft_to_eat/ Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:37:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Dom http://pjmedia.com/blog/in_focus_microsoft_to_eat/#comment-21604 Dom Sat, 02 Feb 2008 18:55:20 +0000 http://dev.pajamasmedia.com/blog/in-focus-microsoft-to-eat-yahoo/#comment-21604 Microsoft just hasn't found a brand name yet for online services that could rival Google. Livesearch isn't attractive and the very name limits expansion of its branded services, and Microsoft has always met resistance online. They should go back to the drawing board and forget about Yahoo, certainly at that price. Yahoo for their part might do well to take the money and run, or else to stay alive it might as well get out of search altogether - they do have a few interesting fringe operations such as Yahoo Answers and their news service. Could they sell rights to the Yahoo search alone, and develop other valuable markets like blogging and hosting? I don't know what blogging facilities they presently offer but it seems an obvious revenue stream and the market might be ready to treat Google as another unwieldy Microsoft in that case. Yahoo does have a strong brand but the search wars are over. Microsoft just hasn’t found a brand name yet for online services that could rival Google. Livesearch isn’t attractive and the very name limits expansion of its branded services, and Microsoft has always met resistance online. They should go back to the drawing board and forget about Yahoo, certainly at that price.

Yahoo for their part might do well to take the money and run, or else to stay alive it might as well get out of search altogether – they do have a few interesting fringe operations such as Yahoo Answers and their news service. Could they sell rights to the Yahoo search alone, and develop other valuable markets like blogging and hosting? I don’t know what blogging facilities they presently offer but it seems an obvious revenue stream and the market might be ready to treat Google as another unwieldy Microsoft in that case. Yahoo does have a strong brand but the search wars are over.

]]> By: RT http://pjmedia.com/blog/in_focus_microsoft_to_eat/#comment-21603 RT Sat, 02 Feb 2008 09:09:21 +0000 http://dev.pajamasmedia.com/blog/in-focus-microsoft-to-eat-yahoo/#comment-21603 Speaking as someone who has been through several M&A processes, both as a accquisitor and accquiree, I can see the advantages from the business point of view, but I am convinced that the process will "fail". The example of Hotmail, which also had a FreeBSD infrastructure, where the server count doubled as they were converted to running Windows, the process for which took more than two years, is instructive. The fundamental point about M&A is to integrate quickly, or all the good people will leave out of frustration at the friction. Yahoo cannot be integrated quickly into Microsoft, because the latter are going to be utterly hung up on ensuring that everything runs on windows, IIS and SQL server. Even assuming MS spend unlimited amounts of money porting code and scripts to Windows, the doubling of a literally 6 figure number of servers involves actually building additional datacentres; which takes 2-3 years. My prediction is that the takeover will fail, with Microsoft left with the search code but little else. They could always have planned it this way of course, but it's an awful lot of money just to remove someone who doesn't even threaten their main revenue stream. R Speaking as someone who has been through several M&A processes, both as a accquisitor and accquiree, I can see the advantages from the business point of view, but I am convinced that the process will “fail”.

The example of Hotmail, which also had a FreeBSD infrastructure, where the server count doubled as they were converted to running Windows, the process for which took more than two years, is instructive.

The fundamental point about M&A is to integrate quickly, or all the good people will leave out of frustration at the friction. Yahoo cannot be integrated quickly into Microsoft, because the latter are going to be utterly hung up on ensuring that everything runs on windows, IIS and SQL server. Even assuming MS spend unlimited amounts of money porting code and scripts to Windows, the doubling of a literally 6 figure number of servers involves actually building additional datacentres; which takes 2-3 years.

My prediction is that the takeover will fail, with Microsoft left with the search code but little else. They could always have planned it this way of course, but it’s an awful lot of money just to remove someone who doesn’t even threaten their main revenue stream.

R

]]> By: DoktorNo http://pjmedia.com/blog/in_focus_microsoft_to_eat/#comment-21602 DoktorNo Sat, 02 Feb 2008 09:02:13 +0000 http://dev.pajamasmedia.com/blog/in-focus-microsoft-to-eat-yahoo/#comment-21602 Call me a scaremonger, but for me this perspective is bleak. Ordinary consumers are not aware of this, but I spoke with some guys who are working in IT business, and they said, that this is nothing good. Y! is a main sponsor of PHP language development, and its servers runs on FreeBSD. Of course M$ would trash these both wonderful things, because they are a threat to their monopoly. Call me a scaremonger, but for me this perspective is bleak.

Ordinary consumers are not aware of this, but I spoke with some guys who are working in IT business, and they said, that this is nothing good.

Y! is a main sponsor of PHP language development, and its servers runs on FreeBSD. Of course M$ would trash these both wonderful things, because they are a threat to their monopoly.

]]> By: DoktorNo http://pjmedia.com/blog/in_focus_microsoft_to_eat/#comment-21601 DoktorNo Sat, 02 Feb 2008 08:58:29 +0000 http://dev.pajamasmedia.com/blog/in-focus-microsoft-to-eat-yahoo/#comment-21601 Call me a scaremonger, but for me this perspective is bleak. Ordinary consumers are not aware of this, but I spoke with some guys who are working in IT business, and they said, that this is nothing good. Y! is a main sponsor of PHP language development, and its servers runs on FreeBSD. Of course M$ would trash these both wonderful things, because they are a threat to their monopoly. Call me a scaremonger, but for me this perspective is bleak.

Ordinary consumers are not aware of this, but I spoke with some guys who are working in IT business, and they said, that this is nothing good.

Y! is a main sponsor of PHP language development, and its servers runs on FreeBSD. Of course M$ would trash these both wonderful things, because they are a threat to their monopoly.

]]> By: Kevin McCann http://pjmedia.com/blog/in_focus_microsoft_to_eat/#comment-21600 Kevin McCann Sat, 02 Feb 2008 04:40:28 +0000 http://dev.pajamasmedia.com/blog/in-focus-microsoft-to-eat-yahoo/#comment-21600 Are we missing a bigger trend? One reason that was given to defend Microsoft from Anti-trust years ago was that it was contending with nationalized companies from afar. It needed to be super-big for the sake of an American Business. What does Gates care about America? What could a billion $ do for our troops and their families. I say to hell with him. He has become an elite Bolshevik type socialist just like the progressive scum at Google. Anti-trust laws need to take them all down to size. The long term sanctity of free capital markets is trending out of control. Their power has no loyalty; only lobbyist. There will never be an International Anti-Trust Power that would not be saturated in corruption. To what end is this going? America will be better served when Patent, Contract, and Anti-Trust laws are aggressively enforced! Competition is the hoe as corruption is the weed. Ideas are the flowers as freedom is the seed. A battle of giants steps on many flowers. Are we missing a bigger trend? One reason that was given to defend Microsoft from Anti-trust years ago was that it was contending with nationalized companies from afar. It needed to be super-big for the sake of an American Business. What does Gates care about America? What could a billion $ do for our troops and their families. I say to hell with him. He has become an elite Bolshevik type socialist just like the progressive scum at Google. Anti-trust laws need to take them all down to size. The long term sanctity of free capital markets is trending out of control. Their power has no loyalty; only lobbyist. There will never be an International Anti-Trust Power that would not be saturated in corruption. To what end is this going? America will be better served when Patent, Contract, and Anti-Trust laws are aggressively enforced!
Competition is the hoe as corruption is the weed.
Ideas are the flowers as freedom is the seed.
A battle of giants steps on many flowers.

]]> By: PersonFromPorlock http://pjmedia.com/blog/in_focus_microsoft_to_eat/#comment-21599 PersonFromPorlock Fri, 01 Feb 2008 19:19:23 +0000 http://dev.pajamasmedia.com/blog/in-focus-microsoft-to-eat-yahoo/#comment-21599 It's a natural! After all, Microsoft is to Apple (or for that matter, Linux) as Yahoo is to Google. It’s a natural! After all, Microsoft is to Apple (or for that matter, Linux) as Yahoo is to Google.

]]> By: progressoverpeace http://pjmedia.com/blog/in_focus_microsoft_to_eat/#comment-21598 progressoverpeace Fri, 01 Feb 2008 17:22:44 +0000 http://dev.pajamasmedia.com/blog/in-focus-microsoft-to-eat-yahoo/#comment-21598 $45 Billion for Yahoo? Is it really not possible to replace/copy Yahoo (including advertising to get eyes) for less than $20 billion? I don't know. It seems like a ton of money to spend for nothing but a label, and a dying label at that. $45 Billion for Yahoo?

Is it really not possible to replace/copy Yahoo (including advertising to get eyes) for less than $20 billion?

I don’t know. It seems like a ton of money to spend for nothing but a label, and a dying label at that.

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