October 17, 2005
Internet Mergers
:Yahoo and Microsoft announced this week that they would combine their two instant messaging networks to allow interactivity and cooperation. The IM market has mainly been a closed system with members of each network only able to communicate with those on that network. The combined size of Yahoo/Microsoft would nearly equal the size of the popular AOL IM service. Meanwhile, AOL is rumored to be open for sale. Microsoft, Yahoo, Comcast, and Google have all inquired into purchasing the former dominant ISP.