Microhoo?

P/N · 07-07-08, 12:08 PM

Microsoft will talk with new Yahoo board - U.S. business - MSNBC.com

Microsoft is trying desperately to get it's hands on Yahoo. But I found this little tidbit in the article interesting:

Quote:

After dropping its takeover bid, Microsoft tried to buy Yahoo’s online search engine for $1 billion and invest another $8 billion for a 16 percent stake in Yahoo’s remaining operations.

Yahoo instead opted for an online advertising partnership with rival Google Inc. that is supposed to boost its annual revenue by $800 million. That alliance faces an antitrust review by the U.S. Justice Department because Google and Yahoo combined control more than 80 percent of the U.S. search advertising market.

An antitrust issue because of the search advertising market? Are you kidding me? It's an open market out there. Sure, Google has pretty much wiped out the competition, but is it Google's fault that they are better than the others? What's next, the Justice Department will look into the Yankees stranglehold on baseball? How about the Lakers and Celtics being reprimanded for their success in the NBA? I'd like to see the Red Wings and Canadiens stripped of draft picks because they win more titles in the NHL than the other franchises. It's online advertising and searching for crying out loud. It's not like Google and Yahoo are the only games in town.

American · 07-08-08, 01:32 PM

Google should be indicted and charged $20B for this evil anti-competitive move. Where are the Senate hearings?

Fiddytree · 07-10-08, 08:52 PM

You know, there's some out there who actually doubt that Microsoft was going to try to go through with it. It is sometimes argued that it was more half-hearted than anything else. Then there was arguments over whether or not there is too much overlap for either company to be comfortable.

No matter which company would try to pull it off, other nations would make charges against the companies. The United States is going to be more lax on this issue, as we have seen with the previous Microsoft anti-trust case.

Sometimes I wish this story would just die a horrible death, but each company needs to make a spin move on it, so here we are.

Kandahar · 07-20-08, 03:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by P/N

An antitrust issue because of the search advertising market? Are you kidding me? It's an open market out there. Sure, Google has pretty much wiped out the competition, but is it Google's fault that they are better than the others?

Is it Google's fault that they're better than the others? No. Would it be Google's fault that they're better than the others if they buy up the main competition? Yes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by P/N

What's next, the Justice Department will look into the Yankees stranglehold on baseball? How about the Lakers and Celtics being reprimanded for their success in the NBA? I'd like to see the Red Wings and Canadiens stripped of draft picks because they win more titles in the NHL than the other franchises. It's online advertising and searching for crying out loud. It's not like Google and Yahoo are the only games in town.

They ARE pretty much the only games in town. 80% of the games in town, to be exact. Sounds perfectly reasonable to me to question these practices. Monopolies harm the economy and discourage competition.

Kandahar · 07-20-08, 03:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fiddytree

You know, there's some out there who actually doubt that Microsoft was going to try to go through with it. It is sometimes argued that it was more half-hearted than anything else. Then there was arguments over whether or not there is too much overlap for either company to be comfortable.

Microsoft's effort was definitely not half-hearted. Microsoft made a VERY generous offer, which Yahoo refused because their CEO is an egomaniac. Yahoo was clearly getting the better end of the deal.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fiddytree

No matter which company would try to pull it off, other nations would make charges against the companies. The United States is going to be more lax on this issue, as we have seen with the previous Microsoft anti-trust case.

It's more of an issue with Google, because Google's search engine and Yahoo's search engine are direct competitors, and together they comprise a huge part of the search engine market. Microsoft and Yahoo aren't as directly in competition with each other.