Unlike when Are Google too powerful? was written it’s no longer just a rumor, it’s a fact that Microsoft want to take over Yahoo. The bid of 44.6 billion USD Microsoft placed on Yahoo yesterday shows that they are dead serious in buying Yahoo. So how will this effect the normal users life and not to mention us bloggers? Me myself I prefer to use Google, but I use some Yahoo services and unfortunately they may now become MSN services . I don’t like that!

The article If Microsoft Buys Yahoo: What We’d Love–and Hate is absolutely correct about the thing that Microsoft is making things way too complicated. Like when they’re naming their services:

It’s the year 2010. Microsoft owns Yahoo and has just changed the name of Flickr to Microsoft Flickr Live Photo-Sharing Service for Digital Camera Enthusiasts. The service is still free, but Windows Vista users will have to validate their copy of Vista as “genuine” first to use it. What has Microsoft wrought?

Why can’t Microsoft do like Yahoo and Google when they make up new names for their services. Why use Windows Live Hotmail as name for your mail service when Gmail and Yahoo Mail are so much shorter and easier names! I really hope Flickr will be left as-is and not merged with the horrible Windows Live Spaces and end up at a horrible web address like home.services.spaces.live.com.

If you’re a user of Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Finance, or Yahoo Groups like me you may have to accept the fact that the services may be closed permanently and replaced by MSN services instead (have a look at Microsoft and Yahoo: Will Your Favorite Service Disappear?). Or they may become MSNitized and be called stuff like Windows Live Yahoo Mail packed with ads and useless features you don’t really want delivered to you by a horrible interface.

The history tells us that Microsoft prefer it’s own brands and therefore may abandon the Yahoo brand completely over time. Just have a look at what Microsoft did with LinkExchange.com and ClickTrade.com. Both services where ruined and destroyed. This is a quote from Microsoft and Yahoo: Will Your Favorite Service Disappear?:

But history gives some hints. In the past, Microsoft has been far more likely to buy technology, user bases, and traffic, but not brands. In other words, Microsoft likes to promote its own homegrown brands , like Microsoft Office or Windows Live, not brands that it has acquired.

Since I’m a blogger I’m concerned about MyBlogLog.com! What will happen to the widget I have at the right column of this site? Will it turn into Windows Live MyBlogLog or will it be left alone as the fantastic service it currently is?

My suggestion to Microsoft is to abandon the MSN/Live brand and go completely with Yahoo. Give Yahoo the resources they need to fight Google and convert all MSN/Live users to Yahoo’s platform. There’s a reason why Google is number one, Yahoo number two and Microsoft not even mentioned in the top: Easy to use and innovative services!

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This entry was posted on Saturday, February 2nd, 2008 at 12:34 pm and is filed under Blogging, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.