Microsoft to buy Google?!

[dropkick]

Anyone else heard about this? A few articles to check out -

the motley fool (http://www.fool.com/News/Take/2003/take031031.htm#microsoft)

http://www.money.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2003/11/01/cngoog01.xml&menuId=242&sSheet=/money/2003/11/01/ixfrontcity.html

Real or just PR hype for an impending IPO?

[grimdeath]

OMFG NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

google is da best now we're gonna have it overrun by freaking popupwindows and banner ads argh

[RelandR]

oh fer farks sake...

..I can see it all now:

"...Google has performed an illegal action and will now shut down..."

[grimdeath]

rotflmao nice RR

[mdipi]

well...if worst comes to worst...apple can come up with one :D

but no i love google to much to see it go like this...i love you google *has apple make a move*

[ahmed]

lol, i'd doubt apple would get into the search-engine business.. MS on the other hand does run the msn.com search engine, and it wanting to take over google makes a bit of sense

[RelandR]

and that is the scariest part (the fact that it makes sense)

:!: rofCmao

[grimdeath]

it only makes sense to them not me no no no i love google just the way its always been

[kirupa]

There is nothing wrong with MS buying them. It'll probably ensure google survives. Besides, google was planning an IPO for sometime next year - sooner or later it was bound to be bought out :cap:

[altermanjw]

on the bright side --
i can't wait to download the google service pack 1

[Digigamer]

what do you mean insure google survives kirupa? I would think they are very well off and one of the most successful internet start up companies along with amazon and ebay.

[dropkick]

They planned on going public sometime next year using an online auction system. Sounds pretty interesting and levels the field a bit for us without connections. That's why I'm a little skeptical of the whole merger thing...people could see the company as being more valuable if MS wants them, driving up the price on the IPO. I'll keep an eye out for anything big that develops.

Motley Fool article (http://www.fool.com/News/mft/2003/mft03102408.htm?source=EDNWFT) - might have to register to acces

[RelandR]

Kmans undying love for saint $Billl has clouded his view meThinks....;)

woe is us who have to endure the whims of yet another redmond based mono-pollie

[Phat7]

I would never believe this! :!: have to do some research. On Google. Wait. :h:

[Mik3]

I can see it now...
Google.com (search 1,000,000 sites!)

Google.com.NET (only $2,000 - search all the sites google used to!)

[λ]

wow.. it didn't take very long for those changes to happen, did it?

[prodigy]

It almost looked authentic, if you just would've changed the "1-10 of about 1,160" it'd be cool.

[λ]

doh.. so close :(

[ahmed]

haha that's funny, gotta love the "Microsoft r0x0rz!" description :P

[Polling]

OMfG

Is it true? ... google should be protected by international laws, like a mountain or egyptian pyramid...can't be sell!!


I've gotta do something.
I call bill. wait.

[Phat7]

good one njs :)

[mlk]

Google is doomed. Search engines simply DONT make money so they're gonna ruin it.

(the reason i love google is because you only have one little search box - that's it; no gimmicks, no ads.) ****. This is the end of the internet; im retiring. I hate Bill.

[T-O]

Top 10 Implications of Microsoft Buying Google

10. Free worm with every search.

9. Google renamed "Microoosoooft."

8. Google becomes default search engine on all computers; attempts to use Yahoo! causes PCs to emit a pungent odor.

7. The search choices on Google will change from "Web," "Images," "Groups," "Directory," and "News" to "Web," "Shop Microsoft," "Buy From Microsoft Because You Have No Choice," and "Steve Ballmer Dancing."

6. Google Image Search will not show Microsoft's dark side.

5. All searches on the term "Steve Jobs" will return bios on Art Garfunkel, Ike Turner, Burt Ward (a.k.a. Robin), and other second fiddles.

4. Long speeches from Bill Gates about how "Smart Appliances" will allow owners to use Google to search for what's in their fridge. When pressed, Gates admits such appliances are only available in his mansion, and that he's never actually seen his refrigerator.

3. Microsoft uses Google technology to search for weapons of monopolistic destruction.

2. All searches on the term "Larry Ellison" will produce lists of garbage-collection websites.

1. "Bill Gates is richer than Warren Buffett" subliminally inserted into all search results.

[McGiver]

hmm, something we will have to expect

[McGiver]

and not to forget this one

[kirupa]

When was the last time we saw anything substantial in the form of advertising on google? Not much. You no longer have the economy where a .com address and merely the illusion of being a large company will ensure your survival. It's sustained profits, and google does not have much besides it's search features to keep it going as a public company. Private one - sure, they can do whatever for as long as they want to.

At least google is being bought out by Apple :ro:

[mdipi]

you mean to bad it isnt? apple would be so chill about it. i can see it now, it wouldnt change a bit. oh well if that happens yahoo is ther...

[Phat7]

Originally posted by kirupa
When was the last time we saw anything substantial in the form of advertising on google? Not much. You no longer have the economy where a .com address and merely the illusion of being a large company will ensure your survival. It's sustained profits, and google does not have much besides it's search features to keep it going as a public company. Private one - sure, they can do whatever for as long as they want to.

At least google is being bought out by Apple :ro:

Let me disagree with you here K-man, aren't you forgetting the Ad-words? Google Labs? What about Googlesyndication? Hell, just the lisences from AOL, CNN, all the others who have Google running on their websites... I'd buy some Google shares myself... :)

[kirupa]

True, but it is still search tools. It all depends on how many clients they get to pick up :)

[Phat7]

Understand what you're saying ;) But I think what they have is more than enough. I actually don't understand why they need and IPO :h:

[kirupa]

To get lots of money to help retain their employees, buy other companies, and make the brand more credible for other companies. There was some study a while ago that shows that publically traded companies like to do business with other publically traded companies more :)

[grimdeath]

Well as long as Kirupa doesnt sell the forum and the website to MS or Apple everything is fine, now if you plan on selling it i will hunt you down and make you suffer dearly and i will have no mercy on you i will eat your heart and drink your blood and.......

Oh got carried away there but you get the message i hope, for your sake :evil:

[Voetsjoeba]

MSN Google ... can you image ?

http://users.pandora.be/voetsjoeba/microsoftgoogle.jpg

[λ]

nice webpageedit voets :thumb:

[dropkick]

google has been estimated to be worth $15 - 25 Billion if it ges public. Pretty good reason for an IPO. MS has over $50 billion in cash right now and would have to shell out quite a bit if they wanted to compete with the money that could be made through an IPO. I kind of doubt that MS will spend nearly half of its cash on one company as their biggest acquisition so far has been $1.5 billion for Visio. They've also passed on some high profile AV companies(Symantec and Network Associates) to pick up a small, no-name foreign company to get them started building their own AV software. MS is also forking money over to Yahoo for use of their search facilities, which it probably doesn't want to do forever. It's most likely that MS will want to get into the search biz one of these days.

[T-O]

Originally posted by Voetsjoeba
MSN Google ... can you image ?

http://users.pandora.be/voetsjoeba/microsoftgoogle.jpg

WOw I am going to have nightmare's of Microsoft taking over.


Looking at allthose picture's made me think that there is allot of talent here on this forum

[Phat7]

Ok, what if Google takes over MS? Any ideas (read images) on that? :)

[dropkick]

--Update--
a few more articles
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=12603

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/11/09/BUG6B2TA121.DTL