Thursday, February 7, 2008
Saturday, February 2, 2008
MIcrosoft & Google Control the Internet?
Microsoft Makes $44B Play for Yahoo
In a letter to Yahoo’s board of directors, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmerdeclared that the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo would deliver“maximum value” to shareholders of both companies and provide better service to their customers.“While online-advertising growth continues, there are significant benefits of scale in advertising-platform economics, in capital costs for search-index build-out and in research and development, making this a time of industry consolidation and convergence,” Ballmer wrote. “Today, the market is increasingly dominated by one player that is consolidating its dominance through acquisition. Together, Microsoft and Yahoo can offer a credible alternative for consumers, advertisers and publishers.”
Consolidation Critic Warns Against Google/Microsoft Duopoly, Urges FTC to Avert Internet Consolidation
By Glen Dickson & John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/1/2008 3:34:00 PMIn a move to better compete in Internet-search and related businesses against the growing colossus that is Google, software giant Microsoft made a cash-and-stock bid for Internet portal Yahoo.
In a letter to Yahoo’s board of directors, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmerdeclared that the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo would deliver“maximum value” to shareholders of both companies and provide better service to their customers.“While online-advertising growth continues, there are significant benefits of scale in advertising-platform economics, in capital costs for search-index build-out and in research and development, making this a time of industry consolidation and convergence,” Ballmer wrote. “Today, the market is increasingly dominated by one player that is consolidating its dominance through acquisition. Together, Microsoft and Yahoo can offer a credible alternative for consumers, advertisers and publishers.”Ballmer is obviously referring to Google, as its $3.1 billion acquisition of display-advertising firm DoubleClick was approved by the FTC in late December.
The announcement troubled Jeff Chester of the Center for Digital Democracy, who has been pushing the Federal Trade Commission to pay closer attention to the merging of Internet media, arguing that it is the next consolidation battleground. "Today's proposed acquisition, if consummated, will create a powerful interactive Internet duopoly in online media," he said in an e-mailed statement. "Google and Microsoft will have inordinate power to shape the online-communications marketplace, including journalism, entertainment and advertising. The once most potentially democratic of all mediums -- the Net -- is being shaped by the same powerful forces that consolidated the 'older' media of broadcasting and newspapers."© 2008, Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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