Searching for a one night stand

I must confess that I really have a hard time understanding what Yahoo! hopes to gain from it’s much debated search deal with Google. I guess I just don’t understand when a player that is currently a secure number two in the market place wants to join forces with number one and thus reduce choice.

Of course you could say that it could be seen as Yahoo!’s own admission that their role in search is on the decline anyway, and that they just want to cash in while they can. But if that is the case, then I think it’s going to be a brutal one night stand seen from Yahoo!’s perspective.

Because by going into the sack with Google, they’re basically saying: Take me, and just dump me afterwards. Because there’s just no way I can see this search deal getting extended at the suggested financial level beyond its initial terms. Google simply won’t have to, since Yahoo! will run the risk of having become totally irrelevant from a search perspective by that time.

So what’s left of competition in search? Not much. Microsoft is still striving and still has to prove itself in this game. A lot of effort and financial ressources get invested, but still with largely no luck. But maybe this Google-Yahoo! deal is the break, Microsoft needs?

My bet is that there are a ton of publishers out there, who are now looking towards alternatives to getting drawn into this new search conglomerate, and here Microsoft may fit the bill perfectly. It’s share of the search market is still tiny, so It’s not considered a threat. And still Redmond has the ressources to at least make a decent effort at trying to compete aggressively. If they can offer the publishers a decent deal to go with Live Search instead of Google, there may be some wins there.

Of course there is also a number of other smaller players both in terms of share and financial muscle. But unless they break the code of what Google’s Marissa Mayer calls the “90 % effort to solve the last 10 % of search”, I really don’t see them playing a significant role going forward.

Full disclosure: I have a working relationship with Microsoft.

Vad NU! is a consultancy company owned by Mads Kristensen and specialized in helping clients take advantage of the business opportunities created by new media. Click to learn how I can help you and your company.