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Microsoft's top strategic initiatives for 2008? More of the same

Microsoft doesn't appear to have much ambition left in the tank. But if I had multi-billion dollar monopolies in desktop operating systems and office productivity suites, I might not venture too far from home, either.

Steve Ballmer recently outlined Microsoft's top strategic initiatives for 2008. If they sound eerily similar to what Microsoft has traditionally focused on, that's because they are:… Read more

Microsoft is "committed to openness," snickers its general counsel

Wow. Microsoft is nothing if not brazen. When you think of Microsoft you normally don't think of these words, at least not together, yet these words came from Microsoft's general counsel, Brad Smith, in response to Google's complaint that a Microsoft and Yahoo! tie up would be bad for the Internet:

Microsoft is committed to openness, innovation, and the protection of privacy on the Internet.

Microsoft? Committed to openness? Microsoft has been committed to destroying openness over the years, and Brad Smith has played an integral role in that strategy, defying the US Justice Department and the world's consumer. I think highly of Brad, but I find this guile to be galling in the extreme.

Google is exactly right in calling out Microsoft's cheek:… Read more

Microsoft lashes back at Google

UPDATED: 6 p.m.

Nu-uhhh.

That's a one word summary of Microsoft's statement Sunday rebutting Google's statement earlier in the day that said Microsoft's $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo could raise antitrust concerns.

"The combination of Microsoft and Yahoo will create a more competitive marketplace by establishing a compelling number two competitor for Internet search and online advertising," Microsoft lawyer Brad Smith said in a statement. "The alternative scenarios only lead to less competition on the Internet."

Smith argues that Google already has three-quarters of the paid search market and about … Read more

Google warns on Yahoo-Microsoft

Google's top lawyer has penned a letter outlining a number of concerns it sees if Microsoft's bid for Yahoo goes through.

In the letter, "Yahoo and the future of the Internet," Google chief legal officer David Drummond says that Microsoft's offer "raises troubling questions" given the company's monopolistic past.

"This is about more than simply a financial transaction, one company taking over another," Drummond said. "It's about preserving the underlying principles of the Internet: openness and innovation.

Drummond warns that Microsoft could attempt the same things it did … Read more

Google vs. Baidu in an eye-tracking test

I'd meant to note this earlier, but SEO Hong Kong posted a summary of some findings when Chinese Internet users were tested comparing China's leading search engine, Baidu, with the newer Google.cn.

In a test conducted with Chinese subjects, eye scanning on Google.cn was more focused in the upper left hand corner compared to Baidu despite the fact that both search engines have nearly identical page layouts. Baidu users also scrolled down the page more than the Google users, but clicked on less sponsored listings--less than 1 percent compared to 3 percent for Google. ...

On Baidu, … Read more

Yahoo's mobile promise

Microsoft's $44.6 billion bid to buy Yahoo is clearly a move to thwart rival Google from taking over the entire Internet, but such a deal also could give Microsoft a huge boost in the mobile market.

It's ridiculous to think that Microsoft would put together a deal of this magnitude for Yahoo's mobile assets alone. There are obviously other more pressing synergies and tie-ups between the companies. But the mobile piece of the story could be a nice added bonus that could pay huge dividends in the future.

Mobile is the next frontier for Internet companies. … Read more

Google releases social graph code

Google has helped solved a problem that infects new social networks and applications--how to grow them, and fast.

Google on Friday released the Google Social Graph API, which will allows developers to write apps that can easily link up people on the Web. The API takes the publicly declared relationships about your accounts, on Twitter, MySpace.com, and so on, and then your friends and their accounts, and makes that information publicly accessible for new apps. So, when you join a new network built using the API, you won't have rebuild your social-network contact list.

Here's how Google … Read more

Microhoo-pla: What is the fate of Microsoft-Yahoo proposal?

The term and concept of Microhoo can be dated back a couple of years now, but it looks to be much more of a reality today than it ever was. Thursday night, Microsoft sent a letter to Yahoo offering $31 per share in cash and stocks. This is more than 50 percent over the worth of the company relative to its Nasdaq trading price this week. The bid by Microsoft to buy Yahoo (it adds up to $44.6 billion) is surely a way for both companies to best do battle against Google, and such a move is ripe with … Read more

MicroHoo: The effect on search and Web services

Just about everyone else on the Internet has written on the potential acquisition of Yahoo by Microsoft for $44.6 billion, but I thought that I would weigh in on what I think this might mean for search and Web services.

According to ComScore's search share numbers for December 2007, Google has 58.4 percent of the market share, with Yahoo and Microsoft trailing at 22.9 percent and 9.8 percent, respectively. If Microsoft and Yahoo combine forces and change nothing, that will put them at 32.7 percent to Google's 58.4 percent. While those numbers … Read more