So, Microsoft is offering an almost unimaginable number for Yahoo! Things can only really go two ways as I see it; one way would be that Yahoo backs down to Microsoft and the money to avoid a shareholder rebellion and to keep most of the board of directors, the other scenario has Microsoft buying out Yahoo and replacing the board. This just can’t be good for the end user either way

Microsoft and open standards 

Microsoft tend to land themselves purely in the opaque end of the standards spectrum. This just doesn’t lend itself to Yahoo (which exists purely on PHP and SQL, not ASP and .NET). Yahoo seems to be the complete opposite of Microsofts approach when it comes to web applications and acquisitions, Yahoo seems to want services and context based ads based on them, where Microsoft wants more to be a pure advertising based model, seeking ad deals with large sites (mostly based on views rather than clickthroughs)

What will happen to Yahoos services? 

Flickr, del.icio.us and upcoming are three of Yahoos side-offerings and as that, the most likely to be dropped like a stone as soon as they hit Microsoft. Yahoo mail is the obvious exception to the rule and will probably be absorbed into the MSN (and now Live) service, IM seems to follow the same rule. Hopefully Microsoft will do it right (and when I say hopefully I really mean they better, or else they’ll loose a metric buttload of potential money)

What do you think of the Microsoft/Yahoo merger and how do you think it will affect you? 

Filed under: Industry News, Musings