As predicted here on this blog - Yahoo is getting bought by Microsoft (booyah kasha!) Keep in mind that the man structuring this deal appears in the video above. In interviews I’ve read online with Steve Balmer I think it’s clear he doesn’t understand the online market and how to profit from it. Microsoft’s facebook purchase clearly demonstrates their lack of understanding. Google just announced yesterday that paying for ad inventory on social networks was hurting their bottom line - and users on Facebook are even more fickle about clicking ads than they are on MySpace.The Yahoo acquisition for Microsoft will ensure a solid future for both companies during the next 10 years. The synergies to both companies should certainly help create more shareholder value than if the companies stayed apart, did some type of merger, or commercial venture together. Yahoo is the only remaining competitor to Google and this purchase verifies that. So what can we expect from a MicrosoftYahoo! in the second half of 2008 when the deal closes:

• One of the largest display advertising companies in the world
• Launching of mobile software to compete with Google’s Android
• Microsoft Search (Windows Live or MSN) and Yahoo Search merging.
• Windows Vista updates featuring Yahoo search
• More consolidation in internet video (the next logical step is to compete with YouTube)
• Enhancements for publishers looking to make money from contextual advertising
• Google continues to eat away at MicrosoftYahoo! unless MicrosoftYahoo! begins to reshape iself and act more like Google.

Please leave your comments and let Banner Blindness readers know what you think a MicrosoftYahoo! will bring in the second half of 2008.