Should AOL and Yahoo Merge?

[engine]

Should AOL and Yahoo Merge? [businessinsider.com]

"Big investors" want Yahoo and AOL to merge, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong to become CEO of the combined company, and Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz to become Chairman (which would be in keeping with what Yahoo's board is discussing anyway).

Yahoo and AOL are both basically media companies. They both use technology extensively, but their core competency is producing content to attract an audience and then selling display ads against that audience. They also both operate duplicative mail, instant-messaging, sports, finance, news, maps, and other services, all of which currently compete with each other. That is senseless. By combining, Yahoo and AOL would achieve greater scale and reduce duplication.

What happens to competition when two giants like that merge!

[jecasc]

Two losers don't make a winner.

[J_RaD]

Yahoo needs a new CEO.

[weeks]

Typical jecasc and J_RaD remarks: Dark, cynical and right on the money.

Now that Bing has taken over search for Yahoo, if they disappeared tomorrow, who would notice? Millions of people would easily find replacements for what they do and it would be better or at least as good.

Maybe I don't know about any hotdog AOL or Yahoo services that are vital, unique or best in their class. If so, I'd be interested to hear about them.

[graeme_p]

No best in class Yahoo services? Flikr, and possibly Delicious?

There are also lots of Yahoo services that may not be any better than the competition, but are good enough and suit their users: Mail, Groups, Finance, Messenger, etc.

There are very few web businesses that are unique: I could find replacements for the Google services I use as well.

[enigma1]

They both use technology extensively.........They also both operate duplicative mail, instant-messaging, sports, finance, news, maps, and other services, all of which currently compete with each other. That is senseless

There you go, why competing? Evolution is so wrong, everything has to be the same.

[weeks]

graeme_p: Those are solid web services and at one time the best there was, but both are not keeping up, IMHO.

And, your point about getting replacements for Google's services is well-taken. I'd add that some, such as Google maps, do not deserve their high reputation.

And, you're right about few web businesses being unique. As someone who has tried to survive offering a second-tier web service, I can tell you that you've got to be number one or be moving higher, getting better, every day, or you're dead. And that's what is troubling about Yahoo and AOL. No growth.

But, tomorrow is another day.

The game they are playing is the toughest game there is. I have a lot of respect for what they are trying to do. It's a harsh biz. I wish them well.