Two Kings: Yahoo vs Microsoft

Posted by Mike Walsh

2/3/08 9:36 PM

two_kings

 

Everyone loves a racy, hostile takeover bid. Its been a long time since RJR Nabisco, and given the larger looming shadow of Google in the background - the imminent showdown between YHOO and MSFT has all the hallmarks of high drama.

Its been interesting reading the coverage so far. Search and display ad consolidation is clearly a major driver of the deal, but don't underestimate the long term value of controlling a social media platform with critical mass. Facebook is growing fast but is still a minnow in the greater scheme of things. Webmail and messenger are still one of the most underutilised social assets in the West, and between them MSN and Yahoo have more than most.

If you want to see what you can achieve with a massive install base of email and IM customers, take a look at QQ in China. They have leveraged their 200m users into dominance in a wide range of other highly profitable online revenue streams, and none of them have anything to do with paid search.

 

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