MICROSOFT DOESN'T WANT YAHOO! OH REALLY?

This was the news that came out of nowhere. Microsoft publicly withdraws it's desire to acquire the number 2 search engine on the set - YAHOO! After all the weeks of speculation and the very public debate of whether YAHOO! should sell itself to Microsoft, it is now official that we won't see a YAHOO!soft of MicroHoo! Or is this just another business tactic?

It's no secret that Microsoft wants Yahoo! MSN tries to shred the competition but it seems that they can't do it. So the best thing to do is eat the competition. Simply because Yahoo! is number 2, it won't be too hard for Bill Gates and company to make YAHOO! reach number one.

This is the typical movement of large companies to eat the competition. Here in the Philippines, I remember that there was a 24-hour type of store that was bought by 7-11 and was converted as their branch. So now, there's just two competing for the 24-hour store race.

Now, there are other search engines out there like altavista and ask.com. But really, the battle is between Yahoo! and Google. Google has become the search engine of choice for most of us including myself. Google has even become part of the dictionary as a verb (google it meaning search it online). That's when you know that you've made it big time. Now, Microsoft wants part of the internet pie.

Isn't it interesting that Google is helping Yahoo! in being just Yahoo! ? I think the Google execs see the monster that this potential merger will be. Or is it because the don't want YAHOO! to overtake them? I'd like to think that Google is genuinely concerned about Yahoo! Microsoft has dominated these past years (decades) with its clout on the IT industry and it has become somewhat a dictator as other IT companies say. Is Google preventing a future driven by Bill Gates and company?

With Mac OSX Leopard eating the chunk of Vista users, Microsoft is trying to find more ways to increase its clout on the tech world. The next battlefield is the search-tosphere. But Google and Yahoo! won't just budge without a bloody fight.

As for YAHOO! CEO Jerry Yang, he has a lot more pressure on his shoulders because of this withdrawal. He has to prove that the company he started 14 years ago can regain its popularity and its stock value despite the Microsoft "about face." I understand Mr. Yang. It's not easy to just give up something you started from scratch. But this can be a good and bad thing. Good because Yang and Yahoo! can prove that they are worth more than $47.5 billion that Microsoft is willing to pay. Bad because the stockholders can turn the tide and force the sale.

Have we seen the last of this? I don't think so. We will see more of this in the next weeks and months. It's not over till the fat Microsoft yodels ...YAHOOOOOO!!!