It’s the last chance for Microsoft to mark a presence on the Internet. By devdeep singh & vareen rayThe first reactions were one of doubts and apprehensions. Oh,
this looks like another one of those ‘failure’ deals like the merger between Internet giant AOL and media major, Time Warner Group. Analysts at the Yankee Group agreed: “Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Yahoo! raises many more questions than answers. On first pass, the deal feels like AOL/Time Warner all over again.” The second feedback was that of awe. Finally, Microsoft was willing to aggressively take on the Internet market leader, Google.
Finally, it boiled down to a changing mix of positives and negatives, depending on who one was talking to. However, the fact remains that if Microsoft’s $44.6 billion ($31 per share) bid for Yahoo! is accepted by the target company, it is bound to alter the dynamics of the global Internet search industry. More than that, the Microsoft-Yahoo! deal is perhaps the last resort for Microsoft to register its presence in the all-important Internet search arena, a segment it could never dominate, despite some valiant efforts in the past.
In many ways, this may be the last chance for software giant, Microsoft, to register its presence in the virtual world. For the Redmond-based major, it is the last opportunity to grab eyeballs and, hence, advertisers. In fact, with the Yahoo! takeover, Microsoft hopes to re-write its online search chapter, which is littered with carcasses of failures. It will surely be its last stop on the M&A expressway and freeway; in the past three years, Microsoft has acquired 27 big and small companies.
Before we get into the possible synergies and benefits for Microsoft if it gets Yahoo!, it may not be a bad idea to first establish why the software giant is desperately seeking the Internet company. The simple reason: most of Microsoft’s forays into the world of Internet haven’t been successful, and some of them have clearly flopped. For instance, its biggest push was through MSN, which was brutally crushed in its early days by the likes of AOL. Since then, the MSN search engine never really took off.
Agrees John Byrne, Director, Technology Business Research, “MSN is a popular site but far less so than Yahoo!’s online presence. Microsoft still lacks compelling content options to draw users away from Yahoo! and Google to its MSN website. The company invested heavily over the past one year to build datacentre capacity and acquire advertising tools (aQuantive), but still lacks the traffic to make ends meet in its online business.” That, in a nutshell, is the tragic story of Microsoft’s ordeal with MSN.
Microsoft’s Internet failures go beyond MSN. Whether it was the electronic bill presentment and payment venture MSFDC, the auto website CarPoint, HomeAdvisor, the home buying service or Passport Express Purchase , the online shopping service, all of them lost out in the wired race. Even the much-hyped acquisition of Hotmail couldn’t revive Microsoft’s fortunes. The fact is that Microsoft has pumped in over $10 billion to develop and run its Internet business in the last few years. But it was all in vain.
Today, analysts like Byrne are convinced that the only way forward for Microsoft is to buy out Yahoo!. In fact, this is not for the first time that Microsoft has expressed a desire to acquire Yahoo!. In 2006-07, it made attempts to do so, but without success. This time, Microsoft is more ambitious, and its bid price indicates this. It wants to grab Yahoo! at any cost. Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft, too is more hopeful: “We believe our combination will deliver superior value to our respective shareholders and better choice and innovation to our customers and industry partners.” In theory, and on paper, the deal seems like a win-win one for both parties. “On the one hand, Yahoo! has some of the best content assets on the Internet, while Microsoft’s content assets are limited. On the other hand, both companies have ad platform assets that could be combined to create a strong portfolio for advertisers and publishers,” says an analyst from Technology Business Research.
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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008 
Several hundred inmates of the Sera and Drepung monasteries had spilled into the streets last Friday to mark the 49th anniversary of the failed Tibetan uprising against Beijing; and more in the Ganden and Lutsang monasteries in Qinghai (Amdo in Tibetan) had shouted slogans urging the Dalai Lama to return from his exile in India’s Dharamsala district. There is no source other than the state-run Xinhua news agency to confirm the death toll. A provincial official was quoted as saying, “The victims are all innocent civilians and they have been burnt to death.” He added that no foreigner was among the victims, but that several Chinese policemen were injured – though none critically. In reality, the toll could be very much higher.
services like mobile money transfer and song catcher alluring the mobile users, the year 2008 is pegged to be even more exciting for the Indian mobile phone user. Telecom operators, in an attempt to broaden their customer base, are betting big on innovations to cater to the increasing demands of the mobile users. One such initiative is the launch of the SMS 2.0, a service that allows the users to send personalized messages and also get an access to services like news and cricket updates.