Feeling a little lost with the whole Yahoo – Microsoft – Google – News Corp – AOL tangle? Don’t worry – a lot of other people are too. Yes Microsoft is still trying to get at Yahoo! and yes.. Yahoo! is still trying to sweeten the deal by 1) rebuffing Microsoft and 2) enticing other folks to be interested in the company – such as Google and AOL.

A flurry of activity happened over the last day or so but you can see a quick summary of it all over at News.com. Here’s the short end of it all.

1. Yahoo! announced that they were going to use Google for paid-search ads (which I find so damn ironic given Yahoo’s purchase of Overture.com several years ago – the ones who made paid-search work in the first place).

2. This was followed by reports that Yahoo! and Time Warner were doing the dirty dance.. and perhaps Yahoo! absorbing the AOL unit from Time Warner and TW receiving a 20 percent stake in Yahoo!

3. But wait.. there’s more! Now there’s word that Microsoft might be teaming up in a joint bid to purchase Yahoo!. The deal would supposedly bring together Microsoft’s MSN unit, Fox’s Interactive Media Unit and of course Yahoo!. Consider the possibilities there folks. MSN + MySpace + Yahoo! .. now that would be interesting eh?

While all of these combinations could definitely come to fruition.. I can’t imagine the sum of these parts being better than the original individual units. Microsoft, News Corp, and Yahoo! is a totally mish-mash of cultures. Imagine integrating the units? Combine folks in Los Angeles, San Jose, and Seattle into a cohesive unit.. oh yes.. have two different companies be the partners managing the unit. Yeah – that’s recipe for a working scenario eh? I don’t think so.

But what about Yahoo and AOL with a little help from Time Warner? Let’s be honest now. What does AOL really bring for Yahoo!?  As the years go by, AOL becomes less and less of a player and more of a has-been. Sure there are still millions of AOL subscribers now but it’s not a growing subscriber base. A synergy with Time Warner might be interesting from a content perspective for Yahoo but.. wait.. isn’t that what they’ve been saying for YEARS now with AOL and Time Warner? How is this different? Plus with Yahoo! trimming itself down by ridding itself of business units that didn’t make money – does it make sense to offer media services like this again?

IMHO – the best way to fight Google to be like Google. Be innovative. All of these companies are simply trying to play “catch-up” to Google and guess what? They can keep on trying and Google will keep on running ahead of them. Combing Yahoo! Search and MSN Search won’t create a bigger search property than Google Search. Combining the user communities of Yahoo and MSN won’t necessarily create a business that competes well with Google.

First and foremost, the companies need a singular vision of execution on the Internet. They need to make consistent service offerings, consistent product offerings, easy integration paths, and most of all – be innovative.

It’s clear that it’s possible to usurp a leader if you execute correctly. Having said all of this, I do believe that a Microsoft and Yahoo! combination COULD work. That deal makes sense because Yahoo! executes fairly well on the Internet (though not great obviously) while Microsoft’s MSN properties have been third rate for years. If the acquisition were to happen, the key to success would be execution and innovation. The ability to come out with compelling solutions – not just “me too” solutions, and the ability to execute on delivering them.

Ok.. I’ve said my peace. ha

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