Survival of the Fittest

This past week, the Technology Giant, Microsoft, merged with Yahoo to hopefully create a better competitor for Google. The merger will allow both companies to focus on what they do best: Yahoo will be able to better focus on selling media, while Microsoft will be better able to focus on developing and improving its online technologies. Bing, Microsoft’s new “decision” engine, will become Yahoo’s default search engine (giving Bing approximately 30% search market share), while Yahoo will benefit by being able to expose more users to ads by having access to Bing’s search data.

This merger between Microsoft and Yahoo is a strategic move in the struggle for market share against Google, and most likely, between one another (as Bing would surely overtake Yahoo’s market share in the long run). I am interested in seeing and using the ‘new and improved’ Yahoo search functionality, but I seem to be more excited to see what improvements Google will make in response to the merger.

I was sent an interesting cartoon parodying the merger (see above). The cartoon, posted on Agency Spy, shows the little fish, Yahoo, being swallowed by a medium-sized fish, Microsoft, with the big fish, Google, in the background. Google is surely the big fish in the online market place, but I really don’t think that they have anything to worry about. With 60% of the market share (more than twice that of the Microsoft/Yahoo agreement), and loyal and satisfied users like me, I don’t think that this merger will produce their ideal predicted gain in market share—not that I don’t appreciate the attempt or imminent Google improvements.

It will be the survival of the fittest, and I think Google will remain the big fish in the online pond…for now at least.

References:

http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=138177
http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=138138
http://www.mediabistro.com/agencyspy/the_menu/today_on_the_menu_cartoonist_bob_eckstein_and_why_yahoomicrosoft_will_fail_122952.asp