Google troubled by Microsoft move? Oh pur-leez. Microsoft blowing £23bn on Yahoo! is the best news Google could have.
First, it’ll reduce Microsoft’s cash mountain – and if Microsoft is any danger to Google at all, part of it lies in its ability to acquire with cash.
Second, Yahoo! is a bit crap. I haven’t visited a Yahoo! resource since 1998. This company is in no state to compete with Google; it’s an AOL for the noughties, used briefly by newbies then discarded.
Third, two mediocrities don’t make a winner. You can’t take two slow learners, put them in the same class, and hope for a genius.
Fourth and last though, and most importantly: Microsoft will screw it up. Redmond culture is not about integrating and celebrating, it’s about engulfing. Yahoo! will become MSN, underweight and underused. And Redmond won’t know why nobody loves it.
So Googlers should be celebrating the news, and enjoying their moment in the sun. After all, Google itself is only one good idea away from failure; it should enjoy its success while it can.