Microsoft + Yahoo!

Published by Martin De Saulles | Filed under Innovation

For detailed and incisive comments on this story read Danny Sullivan’s Searchengineland post. My view, for what it’s worth, is that while the deal may make sense from the defensive perspectives of Microsoft and Yahoo!, it will do little in the longer term for either of the parties or their shareholders. It reminds me of some of the alliances/takeovers carried out in the 1990s’ and early 2000’s in the telecoms/Internet sectors. Like many mergers and takeovers they usually resulted in value destruction for shareholders. Just think back to AOL/Time Warner, eBay/Skype, AT&T/NCR. Although Google is experiencing some wobbles at the moment, I am not convinced that a Microsoft/Yahoo! combination will present more of a threat to Google than they do seperately at the moment. Google has the advantage, which should not be underestimated, of being one company with a single culture. Meshing the different cultures of Microsoft and Yahoo! so that they can operate in a focused and coherent way will be extremely difficult. History is not on their side.