This from Perry Marshall about the recent Microsoft buying Yahoo to beat Google news -
Unfortunately…. In My Humble Opinion, expecting Microsoft and Yahoo to be better than Google by getting together is like pairing up two people each with an IQ of 75 and putting them in a spelling bee and hoping that together they’re a 150 genius.
NOT. They’ll just argue with each other about how to mis-spell everything.
Source: Perry Marshall newsletter
Lol 
I have to agree with Perry, I can’t imagine combining the Yahoo culture with the Microsoft way of life resulting in anything that could compete with Google. The enemy of my enemy is my friend just won’t work in this case.
LOL I have to agree with that, Google is Google and I don’t see anything on the horizon to challenge its position. Wouldn’t mind seeing it though….
That is so true. Google is so powerful, and combining two weak search companies isn’t going to make one so strong that it can overtake the Big G. Very intelligent comparison!
On Techcrunch, they said something like putting two turkeys together doesn’t create an eagle.
If this goes through it would be the best thing ever for Google.
Don’t agree, ultimately this isn’t an intelligence contest, it’s one about scale and size. A combined Microsoft/ Yahoo won’t beat Google, but it would be a whole lot stronger as a competitor because it would have a wider reach. Think ad inventory alone: people buy Adwords because of the reach and they can buy on more sites at once. M+Y gives you a more appealing alternative with more sites making it a more appealing place to advertise for example.
Also take you best bits of both companies into the merger entity: both have some great and market leading products, ideally more people will now be exposed to them. Again, not Google beating, but better, stronger competition. We can make fun of it all now, but we won’t be laughing when Google holds even more marketshare and the price and product suffers due to a lack of any decent sizable competition.
Of course, it could be called Microhoo! or YaSoft! or MiYahoo! … Any other suggestions?
Kenneth
It reminds me the game of chess. Google is Gary Kasparov while Microsoft and Yahoo are baby grandmasters. The problem of Microsoft and Yahoo is lack of anticipation. They failed to invest in research and development on search marketing. The two failed to diversify their products. Google has established itself as a leader. The response of the two came too late.
By the looks of things Yahoo! will be turning down the merger anyway. The Yahoo! culture is in for a wake up call anyway with their big lay offs still going ahead.
I think I am the only around here but I really believe Yahoo And Microsoft together have a good chance to compete with Google. Maybe not in 3 months or a year, but in a couple of years. Will see what the future will bring..
One of the things that made Google great was the fact their search engine was lightning fast. (I’m talking way-back-when.) And their AdWords interface is no different.
If Yahoo and MSN ever expect to win more of the pay-per-click/advertising dollars war, they’re going to first have to figure out how to come up with advertising interfaces that aren’t “clunky.”
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Lol! Merging is becoming a trend nowadays. I guess one big reason is the fulfillment of a company’s almighty BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal). In this case, I don’t think they’d be able to beat Google.
Love the quote. I think Google shouldn’t worry either. Next step would be Googlezon
Hi,
Yes google is very powerfull, i dont think anyone will top them.
I can remember when i first used them as a search engine years ago when they first started.
Its funny going to archive.org and using their wayback machine, and looking at say google and yahoo when they first started.
its a real shocker. but quite amazing.
steve
After all these years and expertise, they could not turn MSN into a decent search engine.
When it comes to search engines, Google is the Lamborgini, Yahoo is the Oldsmobile, and MSN is the Lada.
They may be able to buy a second tier search engine like Yahoo, and make it work, if they don’t tinker with it to much.
If they do tinker with it, and turn it into another MSN, then Google will have the entire search market.
Microsoft occasionally gets things right, but to often they get things wrong.
I think I am the only around here but I really believe Yahoo And Microsoft together have a good chance to compete with Google. Maybe not in 3 months or a year, but in a couple of years. Will see what the future will bring..
Yaro, I stumbled upon this post via related articles of your most recent Perry Marshall post. He’s 100% right. It’s been more than a year since you’ve posted this one, and yahoo and msn are falling further and further behind Google. It just goes to show that yahoo and msn have failed to keep up with google’s innovation, and continue to be behind the curve. Google did miss the boat on twitter, but they’ve been on the ball consistently which has led to them believe a strong household name.
I dunno about this. Yahoo and MSN can team up but the bottom line is people are hooked to google, it’s more of a lifestyle. Hell, google is a pop culture WORD now, not just an internet search engine. I hear people say “google it” all the time in movies. Regardless of the search quality yahoo or msn (combined) have. google has people captivated, it’s a trend WAY moreso than it is anything else.
But I think they can’t beat Google, many service of them not enough perfects. Need to wait for most year!