Likely Regulatory Questions On Microsoft-Yahoo
As the MSFT-YHOO deals gets near, a set of regulatory questions that are likely to come as the deal gets federal scrutiny (especially in light of how GOOG-YHOO deal that never happened because of the regulatory issues):
– How will MSFT-YHOO share search/user info?
– How will the two share this info with their partners?
– How will the ad targeting work for users and on the backend?
– What impact does this have on smaller players?
– How does it affect competition in the space, on the following parameters: lower prices, better service and greater innovation?
– Will this materially reduce competitive rivalry between the two companies?
– What effect would this have, if any, on MSFT’s desktop OS and related services share, especially as the industry moves towards cloud services?
Any others?
I think that just the threat of a Justice Department investigation has to be a big concern, since it would delay the deal for who knows how long.
– Joe Tartakoff, paidContent.org
I don't see it. How could one rationally answer any of these questions in a way where MicroHoo would be worse than Google, which has 60+% share?