A Question for SOBCon08 Attendees

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A Question for SOBCon08 Attendees

By Brad Shorr | May 7, 2008

Here’s a question for the SOBCon08 folks (and anyone else who’d like to chime in, of course). It’s been on my mind.

Now that the Yahoo - Microsoft deal appears dead, is this good or bad for Microsoft? And considering the non-deal solidifies Google’s monopoly on search and search advertising, is the non-deal good or bad for the public?

Here is the list of SOBCon08 attendees -

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27 Responses to “A Question for SOBCon08 Attendees”

Timothy Johnson Says:
May 7th, 2008 at 4:49 am
Great question, Brad. In the short run, maybe bad for some stock prices. In the long run, as long as the internet exists, people will be trying to build a better mousetrap. There was a time when Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft were new kids on the block, too. They are simply the reigning kings, who will be knocked off their respective mountains.
Brad Shorr Says:
May 7th, 2008 at 4:57 am
Hi Timothy, thanks for stopping by. I hope you’re right about innovation, because monopolies are generally bad for business. I wonder if anyone can compete with Google on the existing turf, or will it take a radically new model to change the competitive landscape?
Todd Jordan Says:
May 7th, 2008 at 5:08 am
I’m going to say it’s a good thing. Microsoft has taken over more things than one can count. Each time they’ve incorporated or destroyed and it never seems to be a good thing. What I’m hoping for is that Yahoo really has something up its sleeve that’s totally innovative. Some new model that will turn things on their ear.

But if not, like you said, there’s always some new company ready to give it a go.
Easton Ellsworth Says:
May 7th, 2008 at 8:10 am
Not sure if it’s good or bad, Brad. Certainly will affect the future of the Web, though. A Micro-hoo combination might have given Google more of a run for its search money. I would lean toward saying such a deal would be bad overall. I just don’t like the sound of two (or even three) companies dominating the online world.
Stephen Hopson Says:
May 7th, 2008 at 8:54 am
I would have to echo Timothy’s response about this being bad for stock prices for both Yahoo and Microsoft but that’ll only be temporary.

Quite frankly, I’m amazed that Yahoo was successful at rebuffing Microsoft’s aggressive overtures being the size it is. One thing I’d love to know is the real reason Yahoo is rebuffing MS. Why is Yang not willing to relinquish control of the company? He’s already a billionaire and will have more money than he knows what to do with.

Perhaps it’s ego? Maybe Yahoo is forever his baby and he’ll never let go of it? Who knows? It makes for fascinating speculation.
Brad Shorr Says:
May 7th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Todd, you’re probably right - if MS acquired Yahoo they’d probably strip it for parts. Easton, I don’t know how Microsoft makes Yahoo a more formidable competitor against Google in search. Just don’t see the synergy. Stephen, good questions about Yang’s motivation. He has inspired a shareholder revolt, though. Yahoo just announced the date of their shareholder meeting and gave as little notice as legally possible. I would imagine there be some heated internal conflict for Yahoo going forward, which could damage their share price and their ability to focus on business.
Stephen Hopson Says:
May 7th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Brad:

And a major distraction like a hostile takeover is NEVER a good thing.
Shashi Bellamkonda Says:
May 7th, 2008 at 9:44 am
In my opinion these 3 companies competing with each other or merging and restructuring will not be good for the customer, In terms of competition we should look for new emerging companies to do something so revolutionary.

What if Apple gets into the online advertising business?
@Stephen Says:
May 7th, 2008 at 10:32 am
I don’t think that it matters, as there is a new ad model right around the corner. Or maybe a way to strip out ads we don’t want to see. Or a new ad-free subscription plug-in.

Anything can happen, and as we saw last weekend, it probably will.
Chris Cree Says:
May 7th, 2008 at 10:40 am
I’m not convinced a Micro-hoo merger would have made much headway against Google’s domination of search. Neither company does it well and I didn’t see anything about the deal which would have changed that.

It will probably take some new disruptive technology change to unseat Google in the search department at this point.

Personally I think Yahoo is loosing ground because their services are less user friendly than the competition. And Apple’s finally starting to gain market share because Microsoft’s got the same problem.

Combine the two and I’m not sure there would have been much for the consumer to cheer about anyway.
Brad Shorr Says:
May 7th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Shashi, Interesting point. Making two big companies bigger doesn’t seem like a formula for innovation. No idea why Apple isn’t already in the online advertising business, but considering their marketing expertise you’d think they’d be good at it. @Stephen, Would Google have an idea of emerging competitive models and already have a response ready? Chris, I’m with you on Yahoo’s user unfriendliness. Like MS, their products are over engineered. Yahoo is also way to in your face about collecting personal information (I know Google does the same thing, but they do it with more subtlety). With Yahoo I always feel like they’re trying to sell me something.
Ruth Marie Sylte Says:
May 8th, 2008 at 4:31 am
While I’ve been with Yahoo! as a user since almost the beginning, I have become disenchanted with them for a number of reasons including lack of customer service (making it harder for customers to contact them directly as one example) and the user interfaces.

That said, I’m not sorry that the deal with Micro-hoo fell through. Frankly, the threat of such a merger compelled me to explore Google and its offerings further than I might have otherwise.

However, competition is good for the consumer and a capitalist free market economy being what it is, Google cannot expect to hold dominance forever (although it certainly will try!). There is usually something around a corner at some point. I’ll be interested to see what it is.
Brad Shorr Says:
May 8th, 2008 at 5:57 am
Ruth, what did you think of the Google offerings compared to Yahoo?
Robyn Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 5:23 am
I’m not on the list of conference attendees so I hope it’s still okay to jump in and answer the question. I resent Microsoft taking over so many small companies. Long ago I enjoyed using Word Perfect. Microsoft seemed to take the best of what they developed add to it and then because they dominated the PC market they completely put the company out of business due to the fact they bundled Word along with the computers. I’m also hoping that Macs come back more. I think competition is healthy, but not the way Microsoft did it in past.
Brad Shorr Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 5:41 am
Robyn, all commenters are welcome, especially you! Many people share your attitude about MS, which is one major PR problem for the company. Their acquisitions and dominance wouldn’t bother me as much if their products were better and simpler. My opinion: with MS, you’re forced to settle. That can be annoying.
@Stephen Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 6:04 am
I am not a MS fan, and the “Office” suite that came with my new laptop is just about to expire. Because it is no longer included as part of the package. Oh, no. They want me to buy it. Heh. Teh jokez on dem. I have Open Office and Thunderbird so I am quite set without their bloated and crash-prone Office. I also have UltraRecall, which is quite a bit easier to use than EverNote. So, I need MS like a fish needs a scissors.
Brad Shorr Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 6:16 am
@Stephen, very cool. I’ll have to check those out. My wife needs a new version of Office and it’s around $200 - $300.
@Stephen Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 6:40 am
Forget Office, OpenOffice.org is free, and so is Mozilla.org Thunderbird. Add the Lightning plugin for calendar access. Set up your e-mail to copy to a Gmail account and you can archive everything in the cloud. You will proabably never use 6 GB of space for saved e-mails!
Brad Shorr Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 11:25 am
@Stephen - OpenOffice looks awesome, but if I send a doc to a client who has Office will they be able to read it?
Dawud Miracle Says:
May 10th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Great conversation, Brad. Thanks for starting it.

I’m with Chris Cree and some of the other comments. I don’t think a Microsoft/Yahoo! merger would make much of a dent in Google’s rule of search. I think for Microsoft to make headway on the internet, they need to adopt a fresh business approach. They seem to be a decade or so behind the new, fresh, younger companies. So I think they’re lost in their philosophy - which is ‘it’s all about the platform’ (i.e. Windows). They’re stuck there.

Yet Apple, Google, and tons of social sites are showing that it’s not about the platform, it’s about the user’s experience. That’s why blogging has gone nuts, and Twitter, and Digg, etc - they’re about the user. Microsoft could take heed not to eat up these companies, but to learn from them.
Brad Shorr Says:
May 10th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Hi Dawud, nice to hear from you. You’ve got what seems to me a spot-on take of the situation. In my experience, Windows has never been much of a platform.
Dawud Miracle Says:
May 11th, 2008 at 6:44 am
It’s not, but if you hear the Microsoft philosophy they see Windows at the platform to launch everything. There’s a great interview with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates that I posted a while back. The whole thing probably runs 90 minutes. And there’s some great moments. What I paid attention to is how differently Jobs and Gates view what they do. Gates is an engineer who sees everything as a platform experience. Jobs is a designer who sees everything from the user’s experience. Hence the difference between Apple and Microsoft.
Matthew Murphy Says:
May 11th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
Interesting question. I’d have to say that it’s good for consumers, if by consumer we mean the average internet user. When the take-over bid was first announced, I was talking about it with a co-worker, and the consensus was that if you take two companies that aren’t sure where they should be going and combine them, you’ll end up with one big lumbering company with the same problem. I have to say that I’ve been impressed with the way Yahoo handled things. Instead of sticking their heads in the ground, they went out and made their products better, introduced new features, etc.
Brad Shorr Says:
May 12th, 2008 at 5:57 am
Dawud, thanks for mentioning the interview - must be incredibly revealing. Matthew, putting two companies together is always difficult. The fact Microsoft’s stock rose slightly after the deal collapsed is a good indication the market felt acquiring Yahoo (at that price) would be more risky than it’s worth.
SOBCon08: What Did Everyone Else Think? › Dawud Miracle @ dmiracle.com Says:
May 12th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
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