iThink - 1:56 pm on Feb 8, 2008 (gmt 0)

Old timers here remember very well that Google was nothing some 6-8 years ago. Then Yahoo outsourced search to Google and each SERP on Yahoo carried Google's logo (linked to google.com) on the top right hand corner of the page. That very move advertised the google and ensured that google captured the market share and became what it is today.

So why was Yahoo promoting Google? Reason is the same as it is now. They wanted to earn money from search without investing in development and operation of a proper search engine company. They had the required basic technology from the Inktomi but they never kept pace with google in developing their own search engine because of this start-stop-start approach. Outsourcing search to Google will only delay Yahoo's demise and will erode their share price even further. I believe there are only 2 options for Yahoo.

1. Either accept that their technical and PR team was just not not good enough to compete with google and accept Microsoft's bid.

2. Develop their own proper search engine that is good enough to compete with Google. If they can't compete then they will die, sooner rather than later.