Rumour Alert: Microsoft and Yahoo! collaboration

by: admin Monday, May 7th, 2007

Rating: hype or reality?

There have been some rumours in the press about Microsoft desperate to team up with Yahoo! This can’t be for mobile search and if it is – what would it mean?
1. Yahoo! is realising how hard it is to woo mobile operators
2. Yahoo!’s Go honeymoon period is over and in classic on device portal positioning the initial download hype of Go hasn’t continued as users realise how expensive off portal search and applications are.
3. MSN has made a mess of its mobile search with so many brands from MSN to live search that consumers are confused as to what they are using.
4. Yahoo! has a stronger brand identity in mobile.
5. But MSN has an impressive device range and live search is already pre-loaded into Nokia Series 40 and Series 60 devices, Motorola RAZR and several LG and Samsung devices.
6. Yahoo! loves the search box.
7. Microsoft uses a categorical mobile search service which favours discovery before classic search.

What does this mean? In the mobile space its still early days and there is room for competition so any collaboration at this early stage would be premature.

But then again…

Microsoft has done little with what it has in mobile and Yahoo! is extremely ambitious.

Expectations were high after the first acquisition Motion Bridge. But I met Matt Champagne the director of Mobile Search at Microsoft last year at CTIA and when I questioned what about “Motion Bridge” the response was weak. Similarly in the past few weeks Microsoft has purchased Tell Me (voice mobile search) and Screen Tonic (mobile advertising).

With these acquisitions its mobile search strategy is evolving. It shows that Microsoft is serious. But Motion Bridge was a leader in mobile search and Microsoft hasn’t used its potential. Indeed; Microsoft’s catch-up tactics could be confused with desperation hence its spending spree.

The fact of the matter is; is that collaboration is sometimes essential to springboard services. But one party is always better off than another. Which means that partnership is also extremely risky and does dilute the brand.

More information in The Mobile Search Analyst – Microsoft’s strategy and Microsoft vs AOL .

One Response to “Rumour Alert: Microsoft and Yahoo! collaboration”

anne baker Said:

“While there are question marks as to whether the potential marriage between Microsoft and Yahoo will succeed, this partnership offers wireless device owners a lot to look forward to. There are strengths from each player in different areas: Microsoft has a robust mobile Operating System and Yahoo has had great success with their recent on-device applications (i.e.Yahoo! Go service). Combining all of this into one pot could cook up the perfect blend of capabilities for today’s wireless consumer. Yahoo’s oneSearch service could make dramatic improvements to the MSN search offering. And Microsoft could also benefit from enhancing their MSN web offer to more closely resemble the usability enhancements found in the Yahoo! Go service.” – Anne Baker, vice president of marketing at Action Engine, a mobile on-device portal provider

Comment made on May 14th, 2007 at 8:36 am