An unhappy Yahoo, unsatisfied Microsoft, and a happy Google

Finally, after weeks and weeks of chaos and confusion, it’s been officially announced that Microsoft – Yahoo deal is not going to happen. Microsoft is fuming at a lost opportunity and Yahoo is having a hard time convincing its shareholders. In the midst of all this, one company is beaming. It goes by the name Google.

If you remember, a lot of bloggers, including yours truly, had predicted what could happen to Google’s dominance if the much hyped Microsoft-Yahoo deal were to materialize. It didn’t happen and now I have my foot firmly in my mouth.

Now, let’s take a look at the situation of all three entities involved – Yahoo, Microsoft, and Google.

Yahoo is perhaps the worst sufferer right now. While Jerry Yang was never interested in Microsoft’s offer, Yahoo’s stockholders thought otherwise. They wanted the deal to go through and salvage the stock price of Yahoo. It didn’t happen and you can already see the effect in its tumbling stock prices.

Microsoft is actually wondering what went wrong with their offer. They offered what was considered a very good price per stock and when Yahoo was not interested, they even raised their offer. But then, Yahoo was not convinced. Microsoft wanted this deal to go through more than anything else, as it would help them grab a significant share of the search engine market. Now, Microsoft has to settle for companies like AOL to form strategic alliances with.

Google is the real winner now, as it’s always been. First, it outbid Microsoft and acquired DoubleClick Inc. Then, it got the FCC to make it mandatory for the winner to open its network to all devices. And now, it has got its biggest competitors Yahoo and Microsoft exactly where it wants. Google is about to get into an ad-partnership with Yahoo wherein it can place its ads in Yahoo’s search engine while Microsoft is left in the lurch.

At the end of the day, Google’s number one position in online search market is safe and now it can continue to concentrate on its new venture of mobile advertising. Initially, Yahoo was going great guns in the mobile world with lots of partnerships and deals that even Google was slightly threatened about its place in the mobile world. Now, Yahoo has lots of business to take care of in its own backyard, Microsoft is not in a position to dominate either the online search or the mobile market, and Google can dutifully work on its Android platform and make it big in the mobile market too.

Given the current position of Yahoo and Microsoft, I don’t think they would be able to challenge Google either in the online search market or in the mobile search and advertising market. In other words, Google’s dominance will continue and there is not a thing Jerry Yang or Steve Ballmer can do about it.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, Google, All things mobile phones, Yahoo, Microsoft.

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DoubleClick joins hands with industry leaders

DoubleClick, a well-known name in digital marketing, has announced that it will be joining hands with other industry leaders in mobile content to deliver more value to publishers and end users. DoubleClick Mobile, the mobile advertising delivery system from DoubleClick, will join hands with AdMob, Google AdSense for mobile, and Millennial Media’s Decktrade network and MBrand Network.

This partnership, DoubleClick says, is aimed at publishers who are looking to fill their available inventory and maximize their revenue. Thanks to this move by DoubleClick, publishers will now be able to sell mobile display inventory both directly and indirectly, as they have automated access to plenty of mobile advertisers’ networks. DoubleClick Mobile will give an accurate account of the inventory that is ready to be sold, inventory that has already been sold, and the slots filled by ad networks. With this kind of data, publishers will be able to monetize their mobile content better than ever.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

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A possible Google - Microsoft/Yahoo face off?

Now that everyone is talking about Microsoft’s proposed buyout of Yahoo!, I thought of going back in time and taking a peek at the rivalry between Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft. Surprisingly, they go neck to neck in all areas and while Google is the dominant one as of now, you just cannot say who will win the war. Assuming the Microsoft –Yahoo! deal does go out well and give a huge competition to Google, let me point out the strengths and weaknesses of both sides.

Microsoft bought MessageCast Inc, which is an automated alerting and messaging services firm, while Google was talking about its much-hyped Android platform.

Google bought Marratech, a video conferencing software firm, to compete with Microsoft’s Unified Communications.

Microsoft bought ScreenTonic, a mobile advertising solutions firm, to compete with Google ad solutions.

Google bought YouTube for a whopping $1.65 billion and captured a huge share of the market. Later, Microsoft came up with Soapbox to compete with YouTube but failed miserably.

Google bought Picasa, a photo management software, to set its foot in the market. Later, Yahoo! acquired both Ludicorp and Flickr and has become the market leader in photo sharing.

Google bought Where2 Mapping software to compete with Yahoo Maps, but couldn’t succeed as Yahoo! still remains the market leader.

In the internet space, it’s even more interesting. While Google is the clear winner in the internet search market, leaving Yahoo Search and MSN Search in the lurch, Yahoo Mail is a little ahead of both Gmail and Hotmail. Also, GTalk is giving serious competition to both Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger.

Then, Google made history with its acquisition of DoubleClick for an astronomical $3.1 billion. Now, with its proposed buyout, Microsoft could make history if it does buy Yahoo! for $44.6 billion.

If the acquisition were to happen, it would mean huge competition for Google, no doubt about that. Thanks to the intense competition, both sides will go out of their way to please their customers and retain/expand their market share. In other words, it’s going to be good times for us, customers.

Categories: Google, All things mobile phones, Yahoo, Microsoft.

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Smaato, the new entrant in mobile advertising

Few days back, Smaato joined the elite league of mobile advertising firms such as AdMob, DoubleClick, AdInfuse, and Blyke. The firm has grabbed a $3.5 million first round and has made quite a few in the market sit back and take notice. The firm boasts of its mobile technology that will help mobile ads reach their target customers more effectively.

Like I’ve always stated, mobile advertising is one industry where you can see a huge number of startups becoming hugely popular in a short period of time. The reason being, if you’ve got stuff to flaunt, you’ll always find takers, especially in this industry.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.

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