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Exec Describes Microsoft's 'Social Networking' Vision
5/8/2008
He also answered a question about Microsoft's failed acquisition bid for Yahoo.
"Certainly, [the acquisition of] Yahoo would have been an accelerator, but we made our offer, we've moved on, and now we're focused on how do we grow as fast as possible organically," Hall said.
Another question was about Microsoft's view of AOL, owned by Time Warner. A recent report has suggested that Microsoft may be in acquisition negotiations with Time Warner over AOL. Hall said that AOL has a strong position in the United States with its e-mail, portal and instant messaging. AOL's instant messaging application is "very strong." The company has strong positions in Germany in Russia.
"They certainly have a large customer base today in those markets, but at the same time they don't have an ad platform," Hall said of AOL. "Their search platform has been monetized by Google over the last at least two years. And if you look -- I'm not giving any secrets here -- at ComScore data or Nielsen or any of the tracking services for overall category share, they are not gaining share today."
On a question about the monopolization of search, presumably by Google, Hall said that Microsoft believes "we definitely can gain share of search." He saw greater opportunities in the use of contextual search technology to make that happen.
Hall's talk at the Merrill Lynch Technology Conference can be heard in its entirety, while available, at the Microsoft Investor Relations Web site.
Kurt Mackie is Web editor of RCPmag.com and ADTmag.com. He can be reached at kmackie@1105media.com.
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