The rejection of the Microsoft deal by Yahoo is puzzling. While there are a lot of businessmen that could say that this is pure strategy as a matter of principle you should always reject the first deal to increase you bargain position. If that is the case then why did they wait 5 days to release that information. Of course by this rejection it could help to increase the Yahoo share price. The Microsoft bid is generous and there is clearly not enough room in the advertising market for three players. What will happen next?
Category Archives: business
Ask Owen
Owen the technical Guy at Wcx has just written a post about integrating twitter, with face book, and messenger it updates with an application called Twessenger. It is great blog where you can ask technical queastions? I recommend popping over and taking a look http://askowen.info
Has Google Become Too Big?
Everybody loves Google or so the saying goes. A few years ago if you wore a Google T shirt you would be greeted by smiles as you walked down the street. But that was a couple of years ago. The market place has changed with Google now controlling at least 75 percent of the search engine market and respectively the same amount of advertising and they now hold a very secure position. Fundamentally Google has not done anything wrong. It is just that you have no choice when it comes to advertising. Small and big e-commerce sites all use Google advertising. For example Tech crunch , Digg etc.
Effectively there is no competition which means that Google can dictate terms and conditions and have a very big say over who does what in the market. If a website owner was to say the wrong thing they could find themselves on the other side of the fence with no advertisers. Now the much talked about takeover of Yahoo by Microsoft is the first step in readdressing this problem. I am still not comfortable though. Both of these companies have such a large influence and control of the most dynamic communication medium. Is it time that we should start to worry?
Maybe not just yet, but the signs are there. While we have all become Google search converts. What would it take for some of us to start using another search engine? The array of products that Google provides are truly amazing. From Gmail to Youtube all for no cost to the user and paid for by advertising. But as the old saying goes Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely. Is Google too powerful?
Meeting People on the Internet
It is strange I must admit, internet interactions are just as real, as real world ones. It just takes a bit more getting use to. I have just been emailing with Scott who I first met on the internet about 10 months ago. We both had to think twice if it was on the internet or off the internet.
Failure can be Good
How many of us feel a fear of failure? asks Daniel Peters (Can not seem to locate his blog) from Petercorp. He claims that failing is good, his argument is, if everyone succeeded all the time. Not only would the world be an extremely boring place but there would be no opportunities for learning. By failing you learn a lot more if you the treat the experience as a way of doing things better next time. It can be good….. Do you punish your employees if they fail? or encourage them to learn? Where do you draw the line?
What are your best failures?
Regarding Encyclopedia Salesmen Hate Wikipedia
Seth Godin, has posted an interesting blog post on his site: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/01/encyclopedia-sa.html
And CNET hates Google
And newspapers hate Craigslist
And music labels hate Napster
And used bookstores hate Amazon
And so do independent bookstores.
Dating services hate Plenty of Fish
And the local shoe store hates Zappos
And courier services hate fax machines
And monks hate Gutenberg
Apparently, technology doesn’t care who you hate.
I have noticed this too, and would also add recruitment companies for Linkedin and possible Facebook too. Still change is coming.
Another interesting follow up to this post can be found here:
http://www.businessopportunitiesandideas.co.uk/539/who-hates-you
“Would Linux be so popular if Microsoft didn’t hate it?
Would Eminem be so popular with kids if their parents didn’t hate it?
Would the Sex Pistols have been so popular if they weren’t hated by the establishment?
Would the Vigin Atlantic have done so well if British Airways didn’t hate them?
Would the cheap airlines have done so well if the flagship carriers didn’t hate them?”
My comment… I thought the blog was going to go the other way and he was going to say. “Do not start a business if everyone hates you” but he did not.
IOD Going Green and Going Global
The IOD convention 2008 will be carbon neutral. Very interesting stuff,
This is a key part of a general drive by the IoD to champion the reduction of energy consumption throughout the organisation and it is fitting that our flagship event should lead the way in this cause. The IoD has partnered with The CarbonNeutral Company to make this happen. Activities such as travel, transportation of equipment, lighting and temperature control all produce C02 emissions. To make the event CarbonNeutral® all the C02 generated by the event will be measured and balanced out with verified, carbon-saving projects. The result is a net-zero carbon footprint.
http://www.annualconvention.iod.com/