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Microsoft and Yahoo Reach Deal

Posted by kdawson on from the rhymes-with-sting dept.

e9th writes "We know that Microsoft failed last February in its attempt to buy Yahoo. Now, Advertising Age reports that they've reached a deal. Instead of a buyout, the two will enter into a revenue sharing agreement, and Bing will become Yahoo's default search engine. The meat of the AdAge article can be found in Yahoo News. This deal may give Google something to worry about."

8 of 301 comments (clear)

  1. Moot point by Sporkinum · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yahoo search was useless anyway, so having bing won't change anything for me. It will give them great insight into how people use yahoo's web site though, which will probably allow MSN to poach yahoo users.

    --
    "He's lost in a 'floyd hole"
  2. Google in trouble? by lordharsha · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Cobbling together 2 inferior technologies doesn't give you a superior one. I don't really think Google has anything to worry about. Kindly take your rabble rousing elsewhere.

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    I am, and that is sufficient.
    1. Re:Google in trouble? by shish · · Score: 5, Insightful

      such as putting out lots of side products that have little to moderate success

      I can't say I've ever even seen anyone complain about either company doing this o_O What are you talking about, and why is this supposed to be a problem? :S

      attempting to tie branded products together to create one giant platform

      Having a large platform is fine, if it's based on open standards, and people using third party clients and servers aren't shunned

      --
      I mod down anyone who says "I will be modded down for this", regardless of the rest of their comment
    2. Re:Google in trouble? by Tumbleweed · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I don't think the "You got Bing in my Yahoo!" commercial would fly so well. I'm sure someone would misinterpret it.

      I dunno - that kinda sounds like you captured the essence of the business relationship pretty well there.

    3. Re:Google in trouble? by myxiplx · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yes, but Google are also *not* doing rather a lot of stuff Microsoft did:

      - They're not forcing you to use their products.
      - They don't deliberately break backwards compatibility, using peer pressure to force you to spend more money to upgrade.
      - They're not breaking competing products.

      There's a massive difference between Google and Microsoft. I *choose* to use a vast number of google's products, simply because they are better than anything else out there. I'm *forced* to use Microsoft products, often at great expense, when I would much rather be using alternatives.

  3. Everybody needs competition by nitroamos · · Score: 5, Insightful

    including Google.

  4. Re:Lol... by revlayle · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Most people don't "avoid" Bing (except maybe people like on slashdot, which aren't a consumer majority, by a longshot). People do not use Bing because most people have already used Yahoo! and Google for years, most people won't know the difference that much except maybe "hmm it looks a little bit different". If Bing's engine is better than Yahoo!'s, then maybe people will stay with Yahoo! even longer - well, as long as Yahoo can survive that is.

  5. I don't get it... by Rocketship+Underpant · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Bing isn't really better than Yahoo's search it is? What's more, what about foreign-language searching? Yahoo is the only search engine that has spent significant resources improving their Japanese search results, for example. (Google is beginning to do this, but their search results still suck badly.) I imagine Bing would be a big step backward for most people outside the U.S.

    --
    He who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me.