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Microsoft to Buy Stake in AOL
NetDanzr writes "According to various sources (Bloomberg, Reuters, CNet), Microsoft is in talks with Time Warner to buy a stake in AOL. While the size of the stake or its prize has not been disclosed yet, Bloomberg speculates that this deal would profit both companies. Microsoft would profit from merging the AOL portal with MSN, as a strategy to catch up with his rivals in this space Yahoo and Google, while Time Warner would gain some ammunition in its fight with a renegade shareholder, Carl Icahn. According to CNBC, AOL is just about to turn the corner and is currently the most undervalued division of Time Warner."
This is not finalized. I'm wondering how this will play into the Antitrust settlement too. I don't see where this gives M$ a toe-hold into Google and Yahoo's search dominance. I CAN see where this give M$ a captive audience of sorts, but they had most of this people at "Hello" when they bought their Dell/HP/Compaq PC with Windows included. People are resetting their home page away from MSN.COM for a reason! It SUCKS! No one is saying, "MSN that and you'll find a page about..." People are killing MSN Messenger's autostart for a reason! IT SUCKS! People are moving away from AOL, why? IT SUCKS! They will gain some users but I'm far more suspicious of what this does to Netscape and Firefox than anything else. I'd think someone would drag them into court if they were too overt about killing off competing browsers...again. Who knows?