Gone are the good old days for Microsoft where they could just buy competitors and dominate the market. Remember how Foxpro was acquired by Microsoft and at that time FoxPro was superior to Microsoft Access. Now Foxpro doesn’t exist any more, perhaps some legacy databases exist some where, that’s it. Since the Microsoft’s anti competitive practices case, Microsoft has become near extinct with Google online domination of search and online properties, until now. Here is what the Telegraph had to say about the $44.6 billion bid from Microsoft to take over Yahoo.

"For the last two years, the US internet giants have been focused on a strategic arms race for control of the $40bn online advertising market. Today, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer pressed the nuclear button."

If this merger goes through here are some ramifications for Online Business Owners, who have a percentage of traffic from search engines or use paid pay per click programs:

1. Better Search Results: The new combined search between Yahoo and MSN, may actually produce meaningful search results that have a possibility to compete with Google. On the other hand it is possible that search may move towards human powered search that are not subject to the influences of link builders like mahalo or wikia. Yet another possibility is the likes of Mylivesearch or friends network powered search providing better search results – no one really knows.

2. Content network property values increase and content network quality improves with some governance: With the number of people relying on arbitrage to profit from Google Adsense sites, it is no wonder that the traffic quality from the content network has diminished. The price per click for advertisers has also plummeted in recent months. With Yahoo and MSN coming late into this game, they may catch up with Google and provide a better framework for good quality content sites to advertise.

For the downside risk of this Microsoft Yahoo merger, I couldn’t really think of any other than-

Google getting a flavor of Ubuntu or a desktop platform to compete with Microsoft Windows. There is no shortcut with a full web based platform for the next few years.

Overall I would like to see this merger go through as the upside potential from competition with Google will make the technology platform we operate in better for all.

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