Well the on again, off again, love affair between Microsoft and Yahoo! seems to be leaning towards a possible joint effort between the two companies to try and catch up with Google. But can these two companies working together really put a dent in Google’s armour, or is it too late to try and enter the horse race? Or is this another of those rumors that seem to crop up on a slow news day?

Putting the rumormill aside, what purpose would a merger between Microsoft and Yahoo! serve? One thing is for certain: The days of Microsoft being able to squash the competition like it did to Netscape may be coming to an end. Even Microsoft had to bow and let the user decide which search engine a user can use in Internet Explorer 7. Ten years ago it would have been MSN only, which could lead one to believe that maybe, just maybe, that spat with the DOJ did have some influence.

What would Microsoft and Yahoo! do to attract new advertising business? Put up Micro-hoo ads to attract business in the hopes of stealing business away from Google? A kind of Field Of Dreams attitude: Build it and they will come? It may be a little too late for that. Google has done a great job overall of instilling a perceived attitude among businesses and consumers alike that they are not to be feared. Whereas the perception of Microsoft is just the opposite. Yahoo! is caught in the middle.

IMO this is nothing more than a rumor. I don’t believe that Yahoo! would be foolish enough to place its trust in a Microsoft alliance in light of the recent legal skirmish involving Microsoft and Best Buy. Yahoo! may have to be content in just trying to maintain its current status in the search engine market. Also, Microsoft hasn’t fared very well in its MSN endeavor and it can call it anything it wants, but consumers will not be flocking to its site.

What do you think? Is a Microsoft-Yahoo! alliance in our future? Or is this a nasty rumor?

Comments welcome.

[tags]microsoft, yahoo, alliance, merger, rumor[/tags]