I guess if you're #3, and you buy and extinguish #2 that makes you #2 by default.
Somehow this gets by the anti-trust people because #1 is so much bigger.
This is an ego "measuring contest" plain and simple. There's no synergy to be had here -- AOL is lost in the weeds, and is at best a decent co-brand for content on news sites. Yahoo's corporate culture appears to have no synergy with the evil empire whatsoever; in fact, it seems that they've gone on as long as they have using MS as an enemy to rally against.
Bringing dead weight and a struggling enemy on board doesn't sound like the basis of a coherent strategy for taking on a master in the game.
Somehow this gets by the anti-trust people because #1 is so much bigger.
This is an ego "measuring contest" plain and simple. There's no synergy to be had here -- AOL is lost in the weeds, and is at best a decent co-brand for content on news sites. Yahoo's corporate culture appears to have no synergy with the evil empire whatsoever; in fact, it seems that they've gone on as long as they have using MS as an enemy to rally against.
Bringing dead weight and a struggling enemy on board doesn't sound like the basis of a coherent strategy for taking on a master in the game.