Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft's Online Business is Crumbling Even Further

Broken heart
Microsoft wants you to take its browser
cookie (and give Microsoft a lot more control)



Summary: Microsoft drops "Search & Give" (for now), cuts down other spurious spendings, and prays it can use Yahoo! to injure Google

MICROSOFT'S ATTEMPTS TO offer incentives to people who use its search engine [1, 2] were never successful, unless it was Microsoft who commissioned contradictory 'studies'.

With its online business declining at a two-digit rate despite huge investments, Microsoft is getting even more cash-strapped, so it sheds off "Search & Give".

Microsoft is temporarily ending its Search And Give program, a site that sought to boost usage of its Live Search engine by donating a penny per search to an organization of the user's choice.


Well, according to the same source, Microsoft also cuts spendings on its own employees, not just customers.

The moves reflect the difficult economy and decreased demand for the company’s products. The company last week reported its first year-over-year decline in quarterly revenue – a 6 percent drop compared to the same period a year ago.


The following trollish ZDNet post says that "Microsoft is bleeding." It's primarily about Microsoft's online business.

Each month, new statistics about search engine traffic usage are published by companies like Comscore, and it never fails that Microsoft loses ground, and Google gains. It’s true that search is a small part of Microsoft’s strategy, but when you look at the amount of money they are throwing away to try and compete ($1 Billion per year), it’s not hard to see that there are several eggs in that basket.


Google might lose its partnership with AOL, but Microsoft may never establish an anti-Google partnership with Yahoo!, either. Here is a new list of four arguments against such a partnership:

[T]his week, a source we can only describe as someone very familiar with Yahoo's advertising business gave us four reasons why Yahoo should actually run as far as can from Microsoft's offer.

* The primary reason is that while most agencies and ad buyers may not care if they buy their search and display advertising from the same place, some do and the number is rapidly growing. Our source estimates that two years ago, probably 30% of Yahoo's advertisers bought into this convergence, 50% buy it now and next year, 70% will prefer taking their business to a search engine that can also sell display advertising and vice-versa. * Even outside of losing the business of advertisers who prefer to do one-stop shopping, giving up search could drastically damage Yahoo's display business. Our source says about 25% of Yahoo's display revenues come through behavioral targeting, which doesn't work if Yahoo doesn't know what search queries its users are using.

[...]



There are still some reports out there about Yahoo! and Microsoft, but it seems to be eternally hanging. We've heard all about it (in one form or another) for over a year.



Yahoo and Microsoft are in talks again, but this time it‘s a partnership deal on the table rather than a proposed acquisition, according to reports.


Yahoo! can't save Microsoft. Sticking two inferior search engines together won't make a better one. The same goes for two computer programs like ZFS and btrfs (advanced filesystem implementations, both of which are owned by Oracle).

“Forty percent of servers run Windows, 60 percent run Linux...”

--Steve Ballmer (September 2008)

Recent Techrights' Posts

Writing and Coding Isn't Always Enough
Last year we had to assume a role we didn't have before: litigants
 
Why We Publish Information About the SLAPPs (But Not About the Legal Process), an Abuse of Process by Americans Trying to Silence Critics of Their Employer, Microsoft
It doesn't take thousands of pages to explain something simple
Internet Relay Chat Didn't Fall Off a Cliff
IRC will turn 40 in less than 3 years from now
The UEFI 9/11 - Part V - This is Not a Drill (Disable "SecureBoot" Now)
A "9/11" Coming
There's No Obligation to Speak to Anybody
The very fact that "bkuhn" is till spending time in social control media says a lot about his poor judgment
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, September 01, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, September 01, 2025
The Register MS Says "AI Web Crawlers Are Destroying Websites", So Why Does The Register MS Help 'AI' Companies? (Spoiler: Money)
People need to call out The Register MS on its hypocrisy
Microsoft Trying to Force People to Resign (Amid Mass Layoffs) a Strategy That Takes Its Toll
Microsoft seems to be circling down the drain and the "final flush" will be the moment the "hey hi" (AI) bubble implodes completely
Google Simply Cannot Be Trusted
Only fools would trust GAFAM
Admission That a Third Party (or Parties) Funds the SLAPPs Against Techrights
This can end up costing them over a million dollars
Modifying and Writing One's Own Computer Programs is Not a Crime (or: Google Proves That Stallman Was Right)
We're generally gratified to see so many positive mentions of him
Why We Stopped Publishing Videos (for Now)
We'll probably get back to videos one day, but it's hard to say when or to what extent
What Animal Rights Activism Teaches Us About Sympathy and Focus
It's possible to believe that the planet is warming, that we must do something about it, and still eat eggs and butter
When You Turn Web Sites About Tech Into Political Sites
A lot of people fall into the trap of catering only for particular groups
Gemini Links 02/09/2025: ROOPHLOCH 2025 and Lagrange 1.19 Released
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/09/2025: News Corp. WSJ and A Month With NixOS
Links for the day
Slopfarms Already Peaked, They Will Die When Slop Companies Run Out of Money to Borrow
slopfarms will lack an actual "engine"
“Sideloading” Never Killed Anybody
There are many online discussions this week about the misnomer "sideloading"
Slopwatch: Google News as FUD Vector Against Linux and Plagiarism Enhancer, Serial Slopper (SS) Uses LLMs to Googlebomb "Linux"
Slop destroys the Web not just by screwing with search engines and helping plagiarists. It's also responsible for de facto DDoS attacks...
Links 01/09/2025: "Attacks on Science" and China's "Soft Power" Grows
Links for the day
Links 01/09/2025: Fresh Backlash Against Slop and "Norway’s Electricity Crisis is About to Hit Britain"
Links for the day
Links 01/09/2025: Catching Up (Mostly via Deutsche Welle), "Windows TCO" Effect in UK
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/09/2025: Linguistic Barriers and "Web 1.0 Hosting"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, August 31, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, August 31, 2025
Autumn Has Come
Autumn should be exciting in all sorts of ways; it'll also mark our anniversary
The UEFI 9/11 - Part IV - External Interference
They all seem to be playing a role in crushing Software Freedom and self-determination for users
Links 31/08/2025: Baggage Claim Scams, an Insurrectionist’s War on Culture, and a Sudden Robotics Hype
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/08/2025: Reviewing Netsurf and Slightly Less Historic Ada Design
Links for the day
IBM Has Taken Control of GNOME
Don't expect a successor to be found any time soon
Links 31/08/2025: Google Gmail Data Breach and LF Puff Pieces for Pay
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, August 30, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, August 30, 2025
This is What Google News Has Become
Moments ago