I was reading an article on InfoWorld about Google and Microsoft.

The deal to let Google sell its ads on Yahoo’s Web site, and share an estimated $800 million a year in revenue, is bad for business, bad for consumers, and bad for IT. It will raise Web advertising rates by more than 20 percent. It ought to be stopped.

I’m just wondering now, isn’t this deal raising the earnings for AdSense contextual advertising? Or, if they remain the same, there will be a massive filtering in companies which advertise with Google. Again, that’s a good point, however there are many more variables involved in this giants’ game.

If we do this deal with Google, Yahoo will become part of Google’s pole, and Microsoft … would not be strong enough in this market to remain a pole of its own,

declared Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang.

I, as a blogger, ask “So what?” I, like many other bloggers webwide, don’t have any share in this game. I’ll just observe Google becoming a second Microsoft.

Today, we announced a non-exclusive advertising agreement that will provide Yahoo! with access to our AdSense for search and AdSense for content advertising programs on their U.S. and Canadian web properties. In addition, we will work to enable interoperability between our respective instant messaging services allowing users better, broader communication online.

We are proud of the advertising technologies we have built, which show users a relevant ad whether they are searching for a specific item or browsing the internet. This arrangement extends those benefits to Yahoo! and its many users, advertisers and publisher partners. We currently provide similar services to sites like AOL and Ask.com as well as many other partners, and we work closely with all of our partners to ensure that our partnership drives their long term success.

Source: Google Blog

I was a little curious and anxious to see the finish of what seemed to be the deal of the century – Microsoft acquiring Yahoo. Well, Yahoo said ‘no’ and the waves calmed down.

The Wall Street Journal reported that “the proposal would see Yahoo hand over its search advertising operation to Google in a deal that could yield Yahoo as much as $1bn in new revenues”. The publication cited anonymous sources within Yahoo corporation as saying that the outsourcing deal had been granted initial approval and will move forward. It is about an advertising deal being pushed by Google.

Since the acquisition offer was first made, some analysts have speculated that Yahoo would seek out a deal with former rival Google in attempt to preserve its independence. Other rumours placed Yahoo in a deal with AOL, the American giant.

You all know what happened when Microsoft made the first offer. We all want to see what the outcome will be, and how Yahoo will preserve its independence. I’d rather see Microsoft gone, than Yahoo. And I’m sure many people would choose Yahoo over Microsoft.

I grew up with Yahoo. Search engine, email, instant messaging. I still use the email and the Messenger. So, Yahoo, keep it up, don’t go with Microsoft.

The world’s top software company could boost its online presence dramatically if Yahoo accepts a $44.6 billion bid to be purchased.

Microsoft has offered Yahoo shareholders a 62 percent premium on their shares to sell the company. Yahoo’s latest disappointing earnings announcement helped to depress the stock price, making it a renewed target for a takeover.

“We have great respect for Yahoo!, and together we can offer an increasingly exciting set of solutions for consumers, publishers and advertisers while becoming better positioned to compete in the online services market“, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in a statement.

With online advertising projected to grow to $80 billion by 2010, Microsoft can grab a larger slice of that pie if it can pull in Yahoo, which ranks as the world’s heaviest trafficked web property.

What does the world think about this? First step: pick your jaw off floor.

1. Yahoo is working on its Instant Messenger 9.0 BETA. The new recent features added are:

• Viewing your contacts by their Yahoo! ID vs. their full name
• New expanded contact list
• Message formatting in the IM window
• Installation problems for Windows Vista users
• Games are missing from the IM window
• The LAUNCHcast plug-in

There are also a few things about Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 Beta that you may not know about. One is that 9.0 is the first version of Messenger that is unicode compliant. This means that it supports IMs and status messages in many more languages than before. A few other interesting tips… 9.0 will remember your status between sessions.

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