The stream of consciousness ramblings of a young entrepreneur…

Ok… So I have to chime in on this… I know it’s not necessarily along the lines of what I would normally write about on here - but I feel like I need to get my $0.02 in on this… I warn you, this is more of my rant and discussion on the topic; I may go off on tangents, etc - but thus the column this is being placed in: “Tangent.”

As I’m sure you’re all aware by now, the latest news on the net is the oh-so-publicized Microsoft acquisition bid for Yahoo. I don’t really know if there’s anything else I could add to that discussion that hasn’t already been said in one form or another, but I’m going to go off on a tangent about it anyway. Personally, I hope it doesn’t go through. I’ll be the first to tell you, I’m a Google-kinda-guy. In my opinion, however humble or not it may be, Google has been very innovative in their approach to business. They are tremendously successful in the online advertising industry because, well, they have the best system. It’s efficient, it’s simple, it pays the end-user well and for corporations, it’s relatively cost-efficient. Now, obviously there are some pitfalls to it because it’s often hit-or-miss but that’s the case with nearly any online advertising even as far back as the original double-click ads and the NetZero free-internet supported by Ads. Perhaps I should mention why AllAdvantage failed? Overall though, they’ve reach the peak of efficiency in their system.

Overall though, I like Google because it’s an innovator…always looking for new avenues…creating new technologies…opening new markets…expanding existing ones… I mean, look at their latest foray into the FCC’s 700mhz Wireless Spectrum Auction that TechCrunch has been following extremely well. Microsoft has a very different approach to business. They try to acquire anything they can to grow and to take a larger portion of the market for themselves. Yahoo is somewhere in the middle, they try hard, they just…fail. While fundamentally there’s nothing wrong with this, the problem I have with their approach is they lack innovation. Innovation and a forward thinking mentality are the 2 key things lacking from Microsoft’s approach to business. Google is efficient; Microsoft is bloated. Look at Google.com; it’s simple and there’s a lot of whitespace. Have you SEEN MSN.com these days or even Yahoo.com!? It’s so cluttered it makes me want to crawl into a corner! Yeah, Google offers their own customized homepage but they don’t force it down your throat. Their ads? Efficient, simple and non-intrusive! I want efficiency, not bloat.

Now, don’t assume I am blindly in love with Google. I don’t necessarily agree with their stated approach to the Microsoft & Yahoo situation, but I understand it from a business perspective. I suppose the only thing I really have to say about it is more of advice to everyone in general: Be Careful! It’s never too soon or late to start keeping a watchful eye on large and small companies. Innovation is necessary but so is competition… To further illustrate this point, check out the latest post on TechCrunch about how the acquisition might not be so bad afterall! Personally I like the idea of a new 3rd place player in the field; could bring in some interesting innovation!

I also want to quote a comment I recently saw on the topic that I think describes it better than I think anyone I’ve ever seen and oddly enough, I saw it on Flickr.

“To make a comparison…. if this was 1908 instead of 2008…. Microsoft and Yahoo would be still laying railroad lines, while Google is busy paving and creating roads for them new automobiles.”

Michael Seneschal said this on a comment in the Flickr -> Microsoft Buyout rebellion, “Microsoft Keep your grubby hands off our flickr.” You can see the rest of his comment here.

Alright folks, that’s enough of my tangent for the day. Leave your opinion on the whole situation in the comments section!

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