Should Microsoft Let Yahoo Takeover Bing? I think they should

Posted by The Convergence on July 19, 2012 10:10 pm 22

With the recent appointment of Marissa Mayer as CEO of Yahoo, I was thinking why it would make logical sense for Microsoft to offload Bing to Yahoo and encourage Yahoo do what they do best--offering online services.

Bing's An Expensive Reaction As Reaction Often Is

Microsoft should come to the acceptance that they've failed chasing tail at Google. If the aQuantive write-off doesn't tell Microsoft that, then Microsoft will continue to waste billions--and that is just stupidity and arrogant at the executive level. The online division at Microsoft was never a core value for Microsoft. It was all a reaction to the inability to stop Google in acquiring DoubleClick. Efforts after were just mediocre attempts compare to Google's services' superiority. From search, map, email, and online presence.

At Microsoft's heart, they are essentially a product platform company, not service. Although that will arguably be complex to define when Windows 8 ship with SkyDrive and future Windows Live(or whatever it'll rebranded to). But in the scheme of things people do online, they don't necessary think of Microsoft first as they do with Google.

Investors have been saying for awhile now that Microsoft should sell off Bing, and now I think an opportunity has presented itself. Marissa Mayer might not be a name familiar with people like Sheryl Sandberg. But they both have a thing in common, and that they both reached the glass ceiling at Google. Mayer, like Sandberg, wants to do more than just VP pos and she certainly has the credentials.

Mayer was hired as Google's 20th employee as an software engineer, but her talent was in design. She was responsible for the iconic minimal design Google search page along with other products like gmail, maps, iGoogle, and other services. So I think her profile should be an asset in simplifying yahoo's services that are often a mess.

Potential Yahoo's Reinvention?

Yahoo perhaps doesn't really know what kind of company it want to be. Yahoo says they are a media company, but what does that even mean anymore? They are simply a contents aggregator for the most part. They used to be in the online services but that has been taken over by Google and Microsoft. Carol Bartz (Yahoo's CEO from 2009-2011) hit the nail on that coffin by killing their search business and partner up with Bing for their search service. It hasn't exactly been working out for Yahoo, infact it's a hindrance for their growth. But the Bing partnership is not all bad.

Mayer in 2009 said the Yahoo+Bing partnership was a good move for Yahoo (probably to gain life support). Now that she is taking lead at Yahoo, I think if anyone there know how to compete with Google is an ex-Google employee. Google has long been expanding its focus into various sectors such as smartphone, tablet, social network, entertainment, etc. They are less worry about their initial focus as they still have a demanding shares of the search market. Microsoft is also doing the same thing and Bing is just an expensive side-mission for them as this point.

Mayer could potentially work with Microsoft on a deal to perhaps split off Bing and let Yahoo handles it. Yahoo has less to focus on and that should help them to concentrate on core services to compete with Google. It would benefit Yahoo greatly because they would have the flexibility and full control to compete with Google once again. Microsoft also benefit as they can drop off an unnecessary burden and focus more on their core values. I think it would be a win-win situation for both companies.