Bing-Hoo Yahoo and MS to combine SE efforts

[gonzo]

The game is about to change again...

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/29/microsoft-yahoo-search-deal-imminent-analysts-weigh-in/?awesm=tcrn.ch_1UC7&utm_campaign=techcrunch&utm_medium=tcrn.ch-twitter&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_content=twitter-publisher-plugin

[RawAlex]

I'm not complaining at this point, because Bing has been much better in results that Yahoo, sending much better traffic and seeming to be less infested with pure spam. I am sure that will change as they become such a large target, but here's to hoping that they do a better job than Google.

[TheEnforcer]

That could certainly change things if done right....

[Hell Puppy]

Yahoo has SOOO lost their way. Talk about a company that really never grasped the hedge hog concept, they're the poster child.

For those who dont know what the hedge hog concept is, that's a term used in Jim Collins management books (Good to Great, etc). It basically says most GREAT businesses really understand from top to bottom what their strengths are, what they are trying to do and they stay focused on those core goals and skills and dont get distracted.

Yahoo is an example of a company that lost it's way. They tried to spread out into absolutely everything without a real vision of how it ties together and their core strengths. Getting out of the search business, is almost like a final concession.

When Yahoo was strong and growing, their strength was helping people find information on the internet with a large degree of human control. Anyone else remember paying $200 or whatever it was to get sites considered for the Yahoo Directory back in the day? It was worth every penny, you'd make it back ten-fold first day you were listed.

Unfortunately they never quite figured out how to retain that relevance AND still scale as the internet exploded. Google did. Pagerank is where their "human factor" gets weighed in along with a complete intolerance for false manipulation of search results....a google ban pretty much kills a domain and whatever IP it lived on.

[RawAlex]

I sort of think that Yahoo and Google are hard to compare because each is a product of their "internet time".

Yahoo is one of the last of the true portal sites, the "has everything, offers everything" sort of service, soup to nuts, news to entertainment, chat to hosting, email to stock market news. It's all created in house or done as part of the Yahoo site and experience.

Do you Yahoo?

Google on the other hand is maybe the first web 2.0 company, if you want to look at it that way. Google has no content, nothing is their own. They create only the tools to handle other people's content, to display, to guide, and so on. They offer tools, but those are all tools that tend to lead back to their content display services.

Google isn't a content company, Yahoo is. This is nothing more in the end the proof that only fools create content at this point, as it isn't the profitable end of the business. Google pays fuck all for content, but is considered by many as the best source.

[softball]

This is nothing more in the end the proof that only fools create content


So what do the smart fellas create?

[gonzo]

Yahoo truely doesnt get this space of business where as google does.

Without violating my NDA I can tell you the attitude in the way an adult company is treated that does a good bit of business is largely different.

Where as google embraces us from adwords all the way from the point of entry to the face time and philosopy toward the client.... you only have to look at Overture to see a marked difference in attitude.

A nazi interface and a editorial board that examines keyword and practices and a outward shame in working with adult companies.

If MS and them combine their draconian attitude toward this industry to harden the business practices even more... then this move is Googles greatest triumph without lifting a finger.

[thepunisher]

change for the better