More Heated Google Search Competition Coming (GOOG, MSFT, YHOO)

The search pact between Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) has been approved.  Finally.  The companies announced that the search pact was okayed by the Department of Justice and the European Commission.  The deal was announced last summer.  While few expect Yahoo! to reclaim its former glory, this is going to offer a more competition to Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG).

Last week we saw data from Hitwise showing that Bing was still growing in search market share and that Google’s share of US search was down to 71.49% in January from 72.25% in December.   Data from comScore put Google’s share of US search at 66% in December.

Yahoo! is going to be freed up now to go focus more on innovative search and on content.  This approval now puts Microsoft back in the majors for search.  Microsoft and Yahoo! probably just got a big step for the future of the Chinese internet because of Google’s actions of January with the threat to leave China.

Where the fight for Internet search gets interesting is that Google is spreading its tentacles in what may be too many directions.  Google is going into phones, GPS, electricity trading, space contests, social media link hyperactivity, extreme speed web access, and on and on….

We have expected that Microsoft and Yahoo! would get this approved.  If Google is ever going to be challenged in its core search business, that opportunity is now.

JON C. OGG