Bottled in Extreme Clarity

Microsoft makes another play for Yahoo!

It may seem the logical thing to do (if they are doing it cos Google successfully outbidded them for DoubeleClick) to catch up with Google (what catch up?)… all I know is that the deal goes through, I WILL dump my Yahoo! and MSN accounts and use ONLY Google.

There is no way for both to collaborate further and remain autonomous while maintainining their own respective brands, cos honestly… MS might just overwhelm Yahoo. But, a buy out just wouldnt do it, if its meant to increase shared Internet properties to rival Google’s.

So, what if Google has become the top internet destination? A buy out would hv worse effects than a stupid brand ranking, IMHO. When people go onto a Google property… the average consumer doesn’t even know it belongs to them. They dont really care… should they?

So, their search engine is phenomenal… i use it as a utility… a really useful utility. It’s hardly the social networking tool that consumers like myself have grown used to ie. blogs, photos, vids, music, forums… Where’s the community? I need more than just a really long contacts list on my Gmail app. Localisation - these two have a headstart, Google has only just started… and i dont know how committed it is to getting in touch with the crowds at ground level. (I think Google will be more popular among small biz users than the average person on the street ).

But, what do my needs matter? I’m just one in a world of millions of Internet users. At the end of the day, advertising networks and revenue will demand that its numbers that count - not brand loyalty. Or what web users really want.