Comments on: What Ballmer really meant to say in Moscow

Microsoft officials maintain that acquiring Yahoo has always been part of "a" strategy, and not "the" strategy. Of course, Microsoft was primarily interested in the search piece, but does that make Yahoo's 500 million users a non-strategic asset.

[Ian Kirkland]

Ballmer is a buffoon! This spin is actually making him appear worse. LOL!

[Mr. Dee]

It was the Search that mattered all this time. Scale is really the issue and truthfully accelerating the Advertising businesses. Google and Yahoo! are 10 and 14 years ahead respectively. Microsoft just realized the relevance of Search and Advertising in 2004. There is lots of work to be done if Microsoft wants to catch up and the lousy text search results on Windows Live Search are not making things any better for the Company. If Microsoft does get leverage with Search by 2010, just like Apple and the iPod, its game over.

[The_Decider]

How does it feel to carry water for monkey boy?

He is a child pouting that he didn't really want the toy that he was throwing a fit over 5 minutes ago and his mom didn't get it for him.

[SixVodkas]

This fiasco has made one thing glaringly obvious- Even Microsoft admits that when they're not able to leverage monopolistic powers, they get beaten badly in the open market.

Funny thing, though?
After they acquire Yahoo! (and I believe it'll happen) and the hostile takeover utterly destroys all real forms of competition in this field (and after they fail and the only one left standing is Google), what will have been accomplished?

Microsoft?
In case you can't buy a clue, you're a distant 3rd in search & ad revenue because people, when given a choice, won't use you.

Too bad Yahoo! had to pay the price.

[t8]

The great thing about the Web is that people can choose. It is an open market. If you don't like an organisation, then you can visit their competition. I guess that all that monoplositic abuse is paying off for them. On Windows most people jsut used default programs and Microsoft was the default. On the Web, the best are chosen. In the end Microsoft cannot win people because people don't really like them and their products are not the best.

[Melekai]

I've never used live search before so I googled it and found this (Live Search |; MSN |; Windows Live ... Your search has triggered our robot detector.)
Is that part of the WOW, or should I be afraid?

[OlsonBW]

I'm a computer tech that sometimes teaches classes to other computer techs for new software and hardware. I was told a long time ago to start with a joke. Ok, so these aren't guffaw jokes but ...

Joke #1: Bill Gates is a visionary.

I've been in the industry since 1980 and have known all along that isn't true.

Joke #2: Steve Balmer is a leader.

Microsoft has been a mess ever since he took over. Maybe Bill Gates gave it to him that way. But he hasn't been able to fix it. The feds made sure they couldn't block all distribution channels anymore.

So what has this got to do with Yahoo?

Well, Bill and Steve were the ones that put Microsoft on the road to Vista which is worse that MS Bob and MS ME.

The whole thing about Yahoo isn't about them buying Yahoo or not. It's all about keeping people from writing a lot more about how bad Vista is.

Sure people will come on here defending it. Good luck guys and gals. Look at the trends. People are looking for other options and while you can't see how many people are downloading and installing Linux too easily, you can see that the number of people buying Apple computers is going up quickly.

So I'm a Apple or Linux fanatic? Not really. It's just that Microsoft hasn't made anything I find all the interesting and I don't need the headaches of badly written operating systems with lots of security holes for viruses. Microsoft people will tell that you Macs will have lots of viruses too. It's like the USSR. If you can't compete, spread lies.

Remember that saying in the '60s? Don't trust anyone over 30? My saying is, "Don't trust anything anyone from Microsoft." It has served me well.

[PaulEdl]

So you're running some lame distro of Linux on your 386! Who cares if it's done you well?!?! Companies run their enterprise stuff with 5 9's on Windows every day. Vista has less viruses than any other OS in the market... period. Steve Balmer leads a staff of 80,000 people... how many do you manage? Finally the fact that you are typing and other people are reading this garbage online is mostly because Microsoft put a desktop in your hands. Not because of Sun or Linux or whatever OS you use. Congratulations... your box runs a glorified version of Notepad!

[technewsjunkie]

Microsoft is again late to the game, this time in online advertising, and sure yo can buy your way in "with 50 billion". Of course having the idea in the first place requires insight they don't have.