http://paidcontent.org/2010/09/02/419-a-change-in-approach-microsoft-chooses-not-to-buy-search-share/ The economics of digital content Wed, 22 May 2013 03:46:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ http://paidcontent.org/2010/09/02/419-a-change-in-approach-microsoft-chooses-not-to-buy-search-share/#comment-80021 Sat, 04 Sep 2010 04:25:31 +0000 http://paidcontent.wp.gostage.it/2010/09/02/419-a-change-in-approach-microsoft-chooses-not-to-buy-search-share/#comment-80021 Fundamentally, in a syndication model, you have to have search that’s at least pari passu with the share leader. Otherwise, you can offer 100% of the revenue OR MORE, and in the longer run, it won’t matter b/c it’s up to the users. If it isn’t pari passu, you will lose audience faster not only for search, but the rest of your publishing network. So, until MS/Bing gained organic search share, there’s really no reason for MS to spend much time negotiating syndication partners. Of course, Google can’t rely on this logic, since MS has proven itself to act irrationally many (most) times in the past, so a preemptive re-up makes sense…just in case…and they can afford it. AOL clearly realizes the logic as well. Don’t know the renewal terms on the commercial deal, but I’ll bet that they weren’t better than the terms set out in the original deal…

]]>