Is Microsoft Going To Buy Yahoo?

This via Threadwatch, a CNN Money story about the possibility of Microsoft buying major stock in Yahoo in order to compete in the search market:

"Microsoft has tried to compete in the burgeoning online search and Web advertising categories on its own but made little progress as Google has made massive gains as the industry leader, according to the story. Microsoft executives hope that Yahoo's strength in search and advertising categories would give the company a stronger foothold on the Web, the report said. So far, millions of dollars invested in search-engine technology and online ad systems have yielded little in the way of revenue or market share for the company, according to the Journal."

Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Watch has some great commentary, most of which I agree with (Microsoft just has not made an impact on the search engine stronghold of Google, Yahoo's paid listings service just isn't up to par with Google Adsense) but I disagree with the view that a Microsoft and Yahoo partnership would be a good idea. Sure, it might look good on paper, since Yahoo could bring that strong search core technology that Microsoft (such as Windows Live) lacks to the table, and Microsoft's excellent built-in traffic is a win-win. And if toppling Google is the main goal of both search services, well, I guess that it's a no-brainer.

However, as a long-time Yahoo user and Microsoft enthusiast, I don't agree that a Yahoo and Microsoft partnership would really be that much a good thing. Sure, Google is the clear winner in the search engine wars, but why does there have to be a war at all? Why can't Microsoft simply continue to work on what's working and fix what's broke with their search offerings, and Yahoo continue to innovate and produce search services that are useful and functional? Why does it always have to be about beating out Google?

Here's another way to look at it; some decidedly non-technical related search analysis here. Think of all our favorite search engines as high school kids. Google is the big quarterback jock, Yahoo is the brainy but oh so cool surfer dude, Ask is the class valedictorian who in her spare time volunteers to re-index the school's library, and MSN is the somewhat annoying math whiz who keeps butting in on everyone's conversations, but by now we're getting used to it. Each one has their own unique style and brand to offer all of us, and by combining teams in some kind of inane "whose is bigger" contest just does not work, because - and this is even more non-technical analysis - just like in West Side Story, the kids are not going to mix well no matter how many silly dances you make them participate in.

Whatever happened to innovation? What happened to building a better mousetrap, instead of just piling on more cheese? If Microsoft really feels that the only way they are going to make an impact in the search industry is to buy something, then they are sadly mistaken. Another thing: last time I checked, Yahoo was doing just fine, thank you very much, with lots of fun and functional stuff coming out all the time. They don't need Microsoft. This looks like a pretty one-sided deal to me, with Yahoo doing most of the heavy lifting.

Well, rant over (for now). What do you think? Do you think it might be a good idea for Yahoo and MSN to be the new WonderTwins? Or do you agree with me, that each search engine needs to develop their own special sauce and for God's sake get over the "Google Killer" obssesion? Vote in the poll: