Google and Ballmer on Microsoft-Yahoo
Microsoft’s proposed purchase of Yahoo is a bad idea for Microsoft. Now Google says it’s a bad idea for the Internet.
The openness of the Internet is what made Google — and Yahoo! — possible. A good idea that users find useful spreads quickly. Businesses can be created around the idea. Users benefit from constant innovation. It’s what makes the Internet such an exciting place.
So Microsoft’s hostile bid for Yahoo! raises troubling questions. This is about more than simply a financial transaction, one company taking over another. It’s about preserving the underlying principles of the Internet: openness and innovation.
Could Microsoft now attempt to exert the same sort of inappropriate and illegal influence over the Internet that it did with the PC? While the Internet rewards competitive innovation, Microsoft has frequently sought to establish proprietary monopolies — and then leverage its dominance into new, adjacent markets.
On the flipside, this purchase could very well destroy both Microsoft and Yahoo. Microsoft would empty its war chest on something that can’t compete with Google, and Yahoo would be slowed down by the dinosaurs at Microsoft. I’m sure Google wouldn’t mind that bit. The sad part is, somewhere deep down beneath all that fat and bravado, Ballmer knows this.
Ballmer said he loved when his rivals merged, because whenever the also-rans in any market start teaming up they might as well be waving a white flag. Because it’s over. You’ve beaten them. You’ve driven them to despair. They haven’t been able to beat you on their own; there’s no way they’ll do it together.
Microsoft-Yahoo won’t kill Google. It’ll just annoy everyone else.
Tags: Advertising, Google, microsoft, Search, Software, Yahoo
February 4, 2008 | Filed Under Advertising, Search, Software | 4 CommentsTechnorati Bans WordPress Gurus
Oh Technorati, how far you have fallen. Once a darling of bloggers who valued their blogs based on its algorithm, the blog search engine has fallen further and further into irrelevance in the face of Google Blog Search. First they arbitrarily cripple their archiving, and now they manually ban two top WordPress gurus from its top 100: Matt Mullenweg and Alex King. Why, you ask? Simple: Matt and Alex make a lot of cool stuff that earns them links. Apparently, the people at Technorati don’t think contributing valuable software to the community warrants any acknowledgment.
WordPress is the gold standard in blogging software. Since Technorati’s a blog search engine, it’s basically shooting itself in the face twice over. Nice work, guys. You just made Google’s job even easier. Wonder if this is some sort of petty revenge on WordPress for replacing Technorati with Google Blog Search in its default dashboard. I, for one, am never using Technorati again. From now on, Google Blog Search is my only blog search engine.
Tags: Alex-King, Blogging, Matt-Mullenweg, Search, stupid, Technorati, wordpress
December 23, 2007 | Filed Under Blogging, Search | 1 CommentEx-Mobius Prez Joins Yahoo
In February, Mobius CEO Scott Countryman unsuccessfully tried to sell his company to Yahoo. The price: less than 10% of Mobius for $1.25 million. Considering that my blogs make more money than Mobius’ entire EVE Online Southeast Asia service, I don’t blame Yahoo for passing up Scott’s offer.
Instead of buying the whole company, Yahoo just got one of the best parts. Jojo Anonuevo, who resigned as President of Mobius in June, joins Yahoo as senior director of business development for Southeast Asia. Good for Yahoo — Jojo’s a customer-focused straight-talker with good ideas and great vision. Having served with Oracle before joining Mobius, Jojo’s got experience to boot. Level Up should’ve pirated this guy when they had the chance.
“Having the Philippines as part of my remit is also a great opportunity to address the benefits of the Internet for my fellow Pinoys. Yahoo has adopted a Filipino-centric business approach in my native country and I will look to help Yahoo expand on that vision,” says Jojo on his new job. Yahoo’s in the middle of an enterprise-wide soul-searching; Jojo can definitely them find their soul here in Southeast Asia.
Tags: Jojo-Anonuevo, mobius, Philippines, Scott-Countryman, Search, Southeast-Asia, Yahoo
September 7, 2007 | Filed Under Philippines, Search | 10 Comments-
About the Author
Mike Abundo serves as Vice-President for Online Services of the Philippine Internet Commerce Society. He also writes for Inside Online Video and Tech Side Up. Email him at mike@mikeabundo.com.
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