Thu, 28-Aug-2008
The Long Tail MMHK July
Published: Jul 02, 2008
Elvis has left the building. Well, actually, no. Bill Gates has just left Microsoft. Following Microsoft's failed takeover of Yahoo, mounting pressure on its latest version of Vista and a poor performing share price, what does the future hold as its goes head to head with arch rival and market leader Google and the now Google-backed Yahoo? Is the newly launched Microsoft Advertising the answer?
1. eWeek Microsoft Watch
URL: http://www.microsoft-watch.com/
Blogger: Joe Wilcox
The post: With or Without Yahoo
What it says: The blogger of eWeek believes a combined Microsoft-Yahoo search would have give Microsoft a shot to conquer Google. Given the current situation of the Yahoo-Google deal, Microsoft still should have room to improve its online advertising because so much ad money has been spent offline with or without Yahoo. Wilcox uses this analogy to depict Yahoo's need of Microsoft, "Microsoft's alternative, selling search, would have lobotomized Yahoo. But if the body is going to die off - and slowly - maybe a brain transplant would be a good solution... In which case, it's time for Yahoo to fill out that organ donor card, with Microsoft designated as the recipient."
2. Fortune
URL: http://techland.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/
Blogger: Yi-Wyn Yen
The post: Yahoo/MSFT talks on, but not for acquisition
What it says: Yi, writer and blogger for CNN.com/money, says that the failed acquisition of Yahoo does not mean the end of Yahoo-Microsoft relations. Microsoft still keeps its eyes on while many Yahoo investors believe a Microsoft-Yahoo pact would be a better deal than with Google. Yi says "shares of Yahoo have been steadily falling for the past two weeks after the company announced it ended buyout talks... Microsoft meanwhile, views Google as its biggest competitive threat and has yet to find an alternative to catch up to the search giant in the online ad market."
3. PCWorld
Blogger: Harry McCracken
The post: 15 Ways Microsoft Can Reinvent itself for the Post-Gates Era
What it says: McCracken, the blogger of the PCWorld, gives 15 unsolicited advices for Microsoft to revamp its game plan, in which innovation and trying beyond just Microsoft software is counted as fundamental changes for the firm. McCracken writes "on the web, it's Google, not Microsoft, that inspires the blend of awe and fear that Gates and company commanded in the 1990s, and Microsoft's answer, the attempted acquisition of Yahoo, fizzled. The company's attempts to extend Windows and Office to the web have been lackluster and confusing."
4. The New York Times
URL: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/
Blogger: Miguel Helft
The post: Microsoft Buys TV Ad Technology Company
What it says: Helft writes Microsoft has acquired a few advertising companies to accelerate its digital ad business without Yahoo. Soon right after being turned down by Yahoo, Microsoft has bought Navic Networks, a maker of TV ad technology. Helft quotes Kevin Johnson, president of Microsoft's platforms and services division, saying: "Looking forward, we will focus on small, targeted acquisitions that support our work in search, complement our value in the ad platform and help us grow scale in key geographies. Recent acquisitions including Rapt and YaData are examples of these types of acquisitions."
