• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster

2

'Skills nobody can take': Meet a 20-year-old with a 4.5 GPA who skipped college for technical school to land an 'AI-proof' career

3

China suffers another setback in effort to de-dollarize global finance as anchor in the greenback's dominance quietly exits Beijing's payment scheme

1

Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster

2

'Skills nobody can take': Meet a 20-year-old with a 4.5 GPA who skipped college for technical school to land an 'AI-proof' career

3

China suffers another setback in effort to de-dollarize global finance as anchor in the greenback's dominance quietly exits Beijing's payment scheme

Yahoo loves Bing, but nobody loves them together

By
Stanley Bing
Stanley Bing
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Stanley Bing
Stanley Bing
Down Arrow Button Icon
July 30, 2009, 11:25 AM ET
Google source logo
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

seppuku
As usual in the internet space, nobody can do anything without being torn a new one. Example #1 for the week: Yahoo (YHOO) and Microsoft (MSFT) making nice. Lord, from the resulting bloggery you would think that Paris had just fallen to the Nazis. Jason Calacanis, founder of Mahalo and a webster guru par excellence, was perhaps the most dramatic, declaring that “Yahoo committed seppuku today,” and going on to say that, 

The once proud warrior of the internet space laid down its sword,  knelt at the feet of Microsoft and gutted itself today. There was no honor in this death, it was one brought by the shame of losing to  Google and a lack of faith in one’s ability to compete in the space they created. To be clear, Yahoo didn’t need to do this deal,  Microsoft did. Ultimately Yahoo will look back at this moment as the second — and perhaps fatal –mistake in their epic history.

Now, Jason may be wrong and he may be right. I do know that the coming together of YHOO and MSFT creates a search entity with about 30% market share. You know who has most of the other 70% (GOOG). So you can see a certain rationale to why the two upstart behemoths wanted to do it.

Still and again, you can’t belch in this particular business sector without people yelling at you. And after thinking about it, you know what? I agree with them. I think any attempt to build scale against the Goog is a misconception at best, and a dangerous misstep at worst.

Society is drifting in a very clear direction. We’re moving toward a day when most of our random thoughts, our videos, our music, our pictures of our vacations, graduations and holiday gatherings, our business plans, our poetry and our daily communications with each other — all will be in a gigantic cloud that floats like a giant group mind above and around us. We will be like one gigantic beehive, our collective consciousness gathered for our convenience in one centralized location, the cloud.

Who will own that cloud? You know who (GOOG).  I find that comforting, don’t you? Well? Don’t you?

About the Author
By Stanley Bing
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in blogging


Most Popular

Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

    Latest in blogging


    Most Popular

    © 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
    FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.