Byline: Danny Sullivan
Microsoft's deadline for Yahoo to agree to its acquisition deal will have passed by the time this column appears. I expect we'll hear that Microsoft is moving ahead with a proxy fight to take control of Yahoo. Meanwhile, Yahoo's been testing Google's ads on its site as a potential way to stay out of Microsoft's clutches. If those ads perform as well as rumored, Yahoo might be able to up revenue and convince investors it should stay independent. Uncertainty aside, let's consider what might happen if Microsoft wins its way: A search duopoly will emerge, something that's never happened in the search world.
When I started covering search in 1996, we ...