bill - 1:46 am on Jun 4, 2003 (gmt 0)

Thanks for those links takagi. I'd read that article saying that it was management's intention to operate Lycos Japan and Infoseek independently. I didn't think they would change their minds so quickly. I haven't seen any press explaining the reason for the change of heart.

It is a shame that Wisenut lost their only foothold in the Japanese market. I really liked their SERPs in Lycos Japan and used them regularly as my #2 SE after Google. That killed off yet another Japanese spidering engine...and then there were 3 (Google, Inktomi, & Infoseek)

Although we won't know the effect on the market until after the merger, I don't see this as a real threat to Yahoo/Google. It probably does more to strengthen the Google juggernaut by shrinking the playing field.