Marketing Pilgrim

I’m sure it comes as no surprise that everyone and their dog is talking about the fact that Microsoft is “officially” not interested in Yahoo! but it this actually a scenario people believe? Given the way things have unfolded up until this point, I’d definitely say that it is not the case.

Basically, we have two big companies playing cat & mouse and that’s about it. As I’ve mentioned on one of my previous guest posts here on MarketingPilgrim, we have two companies, one willing to buy at the right price and one willing to sell at the right price. And, since they seem to be unable to reach an agreement as far as that price is concerned, guess what they will do?

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A recent article here on MarketingPilgrim, which referred to an interview with Eric Schmidt, where he basically saw Microsoft as the “evil” company the knight in shining armor (since Google’s CEO was being interviewed, I’m sure it’s clear who he sees as the “knight in shining armor”) needs to protect us from gave me the idea for today’s post

Obviously, the opinion in question is anything but objective, but it does make us wonder: who exactly is the bad guy? Given the fact that Google and Microsoft don’t exactly have a stainless track record, it’s definitely hard to tell.

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The Microsoft and Yahoo! Q1 earnings reports represent important variables which need to be taken into consideration, so that analyzing them for a moment is definitely a must. It’s only natural that these earnings reports as well as the reactions of the two companies leave a lot of room for interpretation and, once again, we can indeed say that the week was anything but boring.

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An extremely interesting weekly highlight definitely has to be the Google - comScore drama and, given the way things have unfolded, it’s clearly something worth looking into, as it illustrates how everything can (and, in most cases, will) backfire if you “dare” to mess with the big G.

Everything started with comScore’s 1.8% paid click growth for the first quarter announcement, which has naturally generated quite a bit of buzz. Is this the beginning of the end for this giant? Is this an early sign that Google is beginning to collapse under its own weight (and, given the fact that the competition isn’t exactly fierce, that’s the most dangerous scenario as far as the big G is concerned)? Are they starting to pay the price for all of their controversial decisions? Nope!

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Nope, it’s not something which helps you stay in shape: I am, of course, referring to the Google-Yahoo!-Microsoft triangle which dominates everything which has to do with news and it definitely seems that things are not about to change.

I liked the way Andy has analyzed the similarities between the GYM triangle and soap operas. After all, soap operas are all about illustrating how people can go from hating each other to becoming close friends, from enemies to lovers, right? Let’s analyze a few important events and see if the same principle applies as far as the GYM triangle is concerned.

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Having gone through more than a few of the industry’s April Fool’s Day posts, I have come to quite an interesting conclusion: as far as the Web is concerned, we are actually celebrating April Fool’s Day 365 (366) times a year.

Let’s face it: nothing should surprise us nowadays. “Google is conquering space!”, it sounds like a fairly decent April Fool’s Joke, doesn’t it? But guess what: it’s not a joke, it’s was actually an announcement (does Google Sky ring a bell?). No matter how incredible a scenario may sound, nothing would surprise me if the word “Google” were to be included in the headline.

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If I were to only use one word to describe Google’s decisions, it would have to be “controversial”. As the industry’s biggest player, it simply comes with the territory and results will, in the end, speak for themselves.

Unfortunately for Google, comScore’s numbers don’t exactly paint an all that optimistic picture this week, with their February click growth being down 3% compared to January and up (only) 3% compared to February 2007. We have to admit this much: webmasters complain about Google all of the time, but having numbers reflect that as well is not exactly something you see every day.

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Yahoo! has definitely been the most active player this week and, as far as their announcements are concerned, I’d label one of them as “entertaining”, yet two as “quite interesting”.

I have found their optimism this week to be extremely entertaining since, let’s face it: given the current state of the US economy, one cannot help but be amused when a billion dollar company in their situation claims to be able to double their cash flow in as little as three years. Being optimistic is one thing, but given the current circumstances, their claims are not exactly what one would call realistic.

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The fact that Bebo was sold for $850 million (a surprisingly low amount according to most analysts out there) to AOL definitely represents the highlight of the week, and that makes one wonder: where on Earth have the other big players been?

If we take MySpace as an example, a company which was also sold way below what it was worth if we take its potential into consideration (the folks over at News Corp are most likely congratulating themselves for their decision each day), it does indeed seem that $850 million represents a more than decent deal for AOL.

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If you were to stop for a moment and take a look at the market, it could definitely seem that things stand this way. After all sorts of scenarios regarding possible mergers, after all of the controversy generated by the possibility of Google finally having a decent competitor, what do numbers tell us?

The answer: 66%, Google’s February market share (US). It seems that, no matter how hard competitors were to try, Google’s position seems untouchable. The most disappointing part is the fact that they don’t even seem to be trying in the first place.

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By Alan Johnson

I’m sure most of you have realized that things are not looking all that great for Yahoo!, and let’s just say that both management and investors are beginning to face the facts. To make matters worse, it seems that Google is, according to TechCrunch, close to securing yet another victory, with the folks over at Ask looking into switching to Google for search and abandoning or selling Teoma.

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By Alan Johnson

I’ll be the first one to admit that things have definitely been interesting the last couple of weeks, with Yahoo! obviously in the spotlight: Microsoft’s bid, Yahoo’s letter to their shareholders, all of the merger scenarios and Microsoft’s unwillingness to raise their bid.

If I were to describe these events using just one word, it would have to be “entertaining”. Aside from the way things have unfolded, I personally find people’s reaction to be even more entertaining. Under such circumstances, it’s refreshing to observe how Google haters are trying to make this seem like the beginning of the end for them, how they live in denial and think that somehow, a competitor will put an end to their reign and make the Web a better place.

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