Microsoft is on the verge of making an audacious grab for Yahoo!’s search engine, taking the Big M’s battle with Google to the next level. Word on Wall Street is that Steve Ballmer is crossing the Ts and dotting the Is on a deal that’ll give Microsoft a platform to launch all out virtual warfare on Google. Read on to find out just what it’s got in store.
Microsoft and Yahoo! have been tussling for the best part of 18 months now. But after Redmond failed to nab the whole of Yahoo! last year, its lawyers are back and bidding for Flickr–owners’ search engine business. Reports even suggest that such a deal, worth £1.8bn, is good–to–go.
In making a grab for Yahoo!’s search engine, Microsoft would take over search ads. And that means not only megabucks for everyone involved. It’s a direct challenge to Google.
Seeing as Microsoft and Google are about to engage in an all out cloud computing battle thanks to Chrome OS and Office 2010, this can easily be seen as the next step in the fight for your virtual desktop.
Whether Microsoft’s Bing fully replaces Yahoo! search is unclear. But you can bet Google is already plotting an outlandish response that’ll get tech fans everywhere salivating.
Microsoft (via The Guardian)
