Microsoft is going to have be creative on their own rather than buying other companies out before they have any shot of catching up with Google.

I agree with Michael. While Microsoft and Yahoo figure out their next dance steps Google will continuing to offer superior (and free) ASP office-like enterprise applications, along with the usual portal ware like email, IM, photo storage and now with their acquisition of Grand Central a phone number forwarding system and voicemail outside of their GoogleTalk application. They're leaps and bounds ahead of any competition.

Google may be gaining some benefit right now, but I think both Microsoft and Yahoo boards will have recieved the wake up call now - maybe they can't make it together but they know that in order to compete, they'l have to do some serious innovation (or buy it/swallow it whole) and this botched merger may be just the impetus for change.

I think Google could use some more competition, at least in the North American market. While it unquestionably dominates the search and ad markets, neither services are perfect. MicroHoo would have been great just to remind Google to not get too complacent at Googleplex.

Search is serious business, Google dominates, but Yahoo is willing to hold on and keep running the race. Microsoft will try to buy their way in if it takes too long to build up their own market share. It would be nice to see some more options in quality search. With the popularity of social media It would be nice to see Mahalo become a big player with their human powered search site.

Perhaps the biggest winner is Ning - more on this later... Google is really struggling to make the jump to iGoogle - it is the culture at the Googleplex that is holding it back!... Without serious competition from other players in SEARCH my guess is the Googleplex will not be transformed any time soon - to move from Google to iGoogle the 'guys and gals' at Mountain View have to create a new research & development culture for SEARCH.. Google is doing great things with its Health Team and that is a very welcome development BUT the real issue for continued innovation at Google is iGoogle...

With Microsoft floundering with under the failure of Vista and now its over-hyped release of Live Mesh...and with no viable Web 3.0 approach to guide the 'Richmond Mob' there seem to be few wins for Microsoft looming...

Meanwhile Ning is in the right cyberspace at the right time... Social networking is where the future action is for everything from politics to retail stores - we just have to get a handle on how to do it with a variety of 'passive revenue models'... Hosting social networks that facilitate your 'use value' or 'core purpose' is the new business model - over the next 5 years I expect it will replace the likes of Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google....

Google wins either way, merger or not. Microhoo's enemy is and shall remain time. The attempt at merger- or more specifically the attempt to seriously compete with Google, i.e. create a competitive search portal as well as web based applications - comes nearly three years too late. In the best of merger circumstances, it would take Microsoft 2-3 years to successfully merge operations with Yahoo and to begin to innovate and compete. During this time Google will simply lengthen its lead. This is the end of Microsoft's proprietory software business model.

Google wins either way, merger or not. Microhoo's enemy is and shall remain time. The attempt at merger- or more specifically the attempt to seriously compete with Google, i.e. create a competitive search portal as well as web based applications - comes nearly three years too late. In the best of merger circumstances, it would take Microsoft 2-3 years to successfully merge operations with Yahoo and to begin to innovate and compete. During this time Google will simply lengthen its lead. This is the end of Microsoft's proprietory software business model.