Microsoft Jockeys For Yahoo: Google Is Their Target
It seems like a long time ago now, but I remember very clearly my first internet google search. I know that’s something most of you don’t remember, but hey, I’ve got some eccentric computer interests. It was back in the year 1999 and a friend of mine told me to search on a site spelled, G-O-O-G-L-E.com. I carefully spelled it out and the rest as they say, was history.
It seemed to work good for me. In fact at the time it was like a breath of fresh air. I was finding things that made life much easier. However, it was still very much a niche then. Nobody knew about Google. Everybody was searching through Yahoo or Netscape. If I hadn’t visited my friend that day, my googling would have been much delayed.
The litmus test for me was in January 2000. I was sitting with my colleague and East West sidekick Dr. A.K. Enamul Haque at his office in Dhaka Bangladesh. He was sitting at the computer looking for something. I told him to try Google. He said what? I then spelled it out and he hit return. He took one look and typed in some obscure publication of his. Bang, it came up as the first choice. He was amazed and I was thoroughly impressed with his reaction. Needless to say Google exploded after that, redefining the way people find information.
The Dewey Decimal System it is not. That’s the system libraries use to classify information. I could never understand it. I could never follow it. On visiting the Guelph library as a university student, it always seemed like a make work project. You needed to seek out a librarian to find anything. They seemed to almost go orgasmic with glee when they led you to information only they could understand. Surely Google and all the other search engines have liberated them to some extent. Maybe Dewey Decimal will be relegated to the scrap heap of silicon valley.
With this as a backdrop I was a bit taken aback this past week when Microsoft Corporation made there bid for Google rival Yahoo. Microsoft has bid $42 billion to purchase Yahoo, which over the years has fallen from its perch as the number one search engine to Google. The implications were obvious. If Microsoft were successful in its bid for Yahoo it would give Microsoft the presence in the web search engine game, which it has only dreamed about. Google it would seem would finally have something to worry about.
For those of you just on the periphery of technology bear with me. For some of you this might be like saying I like green apples versus red. However, it’s a pretty big deal if you are a technology consumer. When it comes to the web, Microsoft has never got it right. In fact, they almost completely missed the boat. Bidding for Yahoo in my mind is the right strategy for Microsoft. They lost the search war to Google long ago. However, by bidding strong for Yahoo they are sending the signal that they aren’t giving up. They’ve got the financial resources to make this thing work and challenge Google for online advertising and search.
For Microsoft it’s been a long time coming. They are big guys, the people who make the operating system, which runs most of the world’s computers. They got that way because Apple deciding to make zillions of dollars protecting their superior operating system. When Netscape came along and made the internet relevant to the world, Microsoft was resting on their laurels, content in the fact they controlled everybody’s desktops. Meanwhile Yahoo and then Google were taking aim on the next technological frontier called the internet.
Google’s technology proved the best. It spread like wildfire. As Google morphed and expanded I remember very clearly thinking that it might be the company to stop Microsoft. They were the master’s of the internet and with their online applications I could see older desktop applications from Microsoft becoming obsolete.
That was happening to a small extent, maybe a little too much for Microsoft. Having never got it right on the internet, the bid for Yahoo only makes sense. Why not buy the guys who at least have some traction on the net. With their financial resources and Yahoo’s experience surely they can stem Google’s rise.
It will be interesting to watch. Google is crying foul. That should tell you something. Maybe, just maybe it’s the beginning of the end for the license to print money Google has possessed in recent times. The American and European government will surely have their opinion about it too. Did somebody say anti-trust? I dunno. Nonetheless, take it from me. Microsoft made the right move last week. It certainly got Google’s attention. Whether it gets the attention of the rest of society will surely be its lasting litmus test.