Yahoo is sending contradictory messages, BOSS is very innovative and forward-thinking, but their Google deal pretty much indicates they've packed their bags. Powerset got their payday and is now part of Live. Live is still fighting hard, though they're not there yet. But if you think about it, Live can't really go down much in usage - the people that still use it have got to be pretty loyal! ;) So it can only go up. There is hope, and how ironic that it is from Microsoft.
Google right now is looking so much like Microsoft 10 years ago.
their Google deal pretty much indicates they've packed their bags.
I don't see how it means that at all. They're making more on the google ads in that location than they were on their own ads. And, of course, there's plenty of rumors out there that the board and Jerry had to come up with a better alternative than MSFT's bid to buy their search product. Sounds like they're doing everything possible to keep their search business and monetize it by any means necessary.
> "Sounds like they're doing everything possible to keep their search business"
Search isn't a business without the ads. The Google deal basically lets Google place ads on Yahoo search results, if they can get a higher price. As a result of its market leadership position, Google commands higher rates for ads. Now that they're deploying ads in Yahoo results, they will get even better at selling ads, pushing rates up further. Since Yahoo is selling less ads, they will get more dependent on Google to monetize their search. The eventual case is that Yahoo outsources search advertising to Google, and Google has a virtual monopoly on search ads. Advertisers will hate this.
I dont think Yahoo has packed its bags. It outsourced only its sponsored search(not in full). This could make them understand which queries competition is doing better. If they were not serious, they could have outsourced web search. They could save tons of cash on development and servers.
The whole outsourcing thing is to make MS want them more, just inorder to prevent Yahoo from sleeping with Google
Google right now is looking so much like Microsoft 10 years ago.