http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2008/feb08/02-01CorpNewsPR.mspx Quite simply, Microsoft is trying to buy out the internet search market to beat up on Google. Collusion of #2 and #3 in the search market may provide some more amicable competition, but Microsoft is just going to shove Yahoo's services down our throats like Windows Messenger, Windows Live, Windows Desktop Search, etc. Imagine your stock Vista laptop loaded down with Yahoo! Music, Yahoo! Video, Yahoo! Address Book, Yahoo! Mail, etc....

Personally, if it allows appropriate synchronization of information in a controlled, safe format, I'm cool. Microsoft, Google, and Facebook have joined the Data Portability Group whose purpose is to create open and standard protocols for synchronizing and abstracting data. Syncable Address Books, Calendars, Mail, etc. is a good thing for mobile users, and the more accessible (and secure) data is, the better. If Microsoft and Yahoo! (Microhoo!?) start providing synchronization for Windows users, Google will have to follow suit. An interesting note: how is Yahoo's content partnership with Apple going to change? The new version of Mac OSX Leopard allows for address book synchronization with Yahoo!, and if Apple and Microsoft start sharing data, I'm not looking forward to flying bacon.

While Yahoo! has not accepted the offer, Microsoft offered a price which is 165% of the current per-share price of Yahoo, so for the stockholder's sake, Yahoo! will probably bite. We'll see how Google reacts...