A History of Mistakes by Microsoft

WSJ has written about a history of mistakes Microsoft has done which led to the rise of Google.

In an excerpt:

In 2000, before Google married Web search with advertising, Microsoft had a rudimentary system that did the same, called Keywords, running on the Web. Advertisers began signing up. But Microsoft executives, in part fearing the company would cannibalize other revenue streams, shut it down after two months.

Microsoft got a second chance in early 2003 when top executives proposed that the company buy Overture Services Inc., a pioneer in combining search results with ads. Mr. Ballmer and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates shot down the deal. Instead, Overture was snapped up by Yahoo -- and now forms a cornerstone of the Yahoo unit Mr. Ballmer covets.

Last year, Mr. Ballmer offered to buy Yahoo for $50 billion. When that bid failed, he made an offer to buy Yahoo's Web-search operations, saying in the past month that both companies would benefit by doing a deal "sooner than later." Tuesday brought fresh opportunity, when Yahoo named Carol Bartz, an industry veteran, as its new chief executive. Many industry observers think Ms. Bartz could become Mr. Ballmer's new counterparty in negotiations.

Continue reading here.

BOOKMARK FOR REFERENCE