Do you really have any idea how big Yahoo is, or hell, how big MSN is?
There’s a lot of overlap between the two, and Long Zheng & Josh Philips have been kind enough to generate a nice chart to show the two. The chart is reproduced below, with some notes added by me regarding what I think about which service will be rolled into the other.
Service Yahoo Equivalent Microsoft Equivalent Nathan’s notes Content Portals Yahoo.com
Yahoo Auto
Yahoo Finances
Etc… Msn.com
MSN Auto
MSN Finances
Etc… Both sides have some great, well-developed portal sites. There’s no need for both, so the only way sites like Yahoo Autos and MSN Autos survive is if the companies waffle and keep both Yahoo and MSN alive, competing with each other. Country-specific Content Portals ex. Yahoo7.com.au ex. Ninemsn.com Here’s part of the beauty of the acquisition. Yahoo and MSN have many international portals. In some countries, Yahoo is king, in others, MSN. Together, they combine to have #1 market share in almost every single market. Account Management Yahoo ID Live ID Yahoo’s ID system, while good, is nowhere near as powerful or versatile as Microsoft’s. Microsoft’s multi-account switching and Windows Live Sign-In assistant would win anyday. Either way, Microsoft sticks with its own technology, so Yahoo IDs are dead. Personal Homepage My Yahoo! Live.com MyYahoo is bigger and has more users, and a big history. The technology developed for Live.com will likely be rolled into MyYahoo, or exist as a more advanced option for MyYahoo users, but MyYahoo is king here. Search Yahoo Search Live Search Both are big dogs, and both are struggling to catch Google. Both will survive, at least for a while, with Microsoft trying to find a way to combine the market share of the two eventually. Most likely, the search engine will fall under the Yahoo brand, but itcould go either way. Casual gaming Yahoo Games MSN Games Both sites are strong, could be better, and will certainly be combined into one, possibly under the Yahoo brand. Mapping Yahoo Maps Live Maps Not even a question. Microsoft loves Live Maps, and has invested heavily in it. Yahoo Maps is dead, but its engineers and some of its code may work for Live in the future. Instant Messenger Yahoo Messenger Live Messenger Yahoo Messenger and Live Messenger already work together, making the path for the future easier. Live Messenger is more popular, and will almost definitely be the only client in the future, with added support for the Yahoo services and features it can take over from the Yahoo client. Mail Yahoo Mail Live Hotmail Live Hotmail is one of Microsoft’s most important, strongest projects. Microsoft will avoid killing Yahoo at first, but development on Yahoo Mail will cease. Microsoft will offer Yahoo users the option to migrate their accounts to the ever-improving Hotmail, and eventually Yahoo Mail will phase out and die. Community Help Service Yahoo Answers Live QnA Yahoo Answers is the amazing success story of 2007, while Live QnA never got enough traction. Live QnA is dead, and there’s even a chance Microsoft will not bother to integrate. Photo Sharing Flickr Live Spaces Flickr will become tied to Live Spaces, with the millions of Live Spaces photos becoming part of Flickr. The two will thrive on each other and grow exponentially more successful. This will be the immediate crown jewel of the acquisition. Blogging 360° Live Spaces Yahoo 360 is a failure. If Microsoft is nice, it may offer to transition accounts over, but 360 is dead. Widgets Yahoo Widgets Windows Sidebar Yahoo Widgets is strong and has a nice library of Gadgets. The first post-acquisition release of Sidebar will add support for Yahoo Widgets, which will live side-by-side in Windows Vista. Search Advertising Yahoo Search Marketing Microsoft adCenter The hardest part of the acquisition. It took Yahoo years to integrate Overture into its own ad systems, and if that happens to Microsoft, this entire acquisition will have been a waste. Luckily, Microsoft is very talented at integrating, at least when compared to Yahoo. Expect hundreds of employees to work on combining the two products, with a deadline of under 12 months, maybe even six months. Mobile Yahoo Mobile Live Mobile Live Mobile isn’t fully developed, but an important part of Microsoft’s mobile strategy. Yahoo Go for Mobile is a great piece of software. There will be a fight inside Microsoft, but if the company is smart, it will continue to develop Yahoo Go as the iPhone-killer content browser. Web Development Yahoo Developer Network Dev.Live.com Both will continue, as long as they continue to help developers with their platforms. No reason to worry here. Web Mashup Tools Yahoo Pipes Popfly Yahoo Pipes is dead, but the engineers and code will try to live on at Microsoft. Popfly is too important to Microsoft to not win this one. Website Services Yahoo Small Business Office Live Yahoo’s offering is dead. Office Live is much better, and important to Microsoft’s Office division. Yahoo’s customers will hopefully like Microsoft’s technology, which has been well invested in and is cheaper (or free). Geocities Social Events Upcoming Live Events Tough call. Live Events is really knew, and we don’t know how important it is to Microsoft. If they aren’t desperately attached to it, Upcoming could win. Social Bookmarking del.icio.us (Advertising deal with Digg) Everybody wins. Microsoft keeps dealing with Digg, and puts development resources into del.icio.us. eCommerce alibaba Music Service Y! Music/MusicMatch Zune Marketplace, MSN Music Microsoft killed MSN Music for Zune, and it will kill Yahoo Music, too. Microsoft will integrate or transition, and kill it off. Hopefully, Launchcast will survive, but don’t count on it. Music Software Music Jukebox Windows Media Player Ditto.
What do you think? What is missing from the table?
