The Yahoo and Microsoft marriage may be in negotiation, but the progress and success of this endeavor could be halted to the sole benefit of Google. Although the Redmond Company dwarfs without any problems both Google and Yahoo, Google's increasing domination over Internet search and advertising does not bode well with Microsoft, whose Internet platform has failed to pick up.

The first reason that should deter Microsoft and Yahoo from a merger is the fact that the two companies will end up giving customers wrong signals. A potential Microsoft and Yahoo banding would indicate sings of unrest in both organizations due to the Google competition. Sources familiar with the development of the negotiations claim that merger talks have cooled down and that Microsoft and Yahoo are exploring alternative collaboration strategies that would enable them to step out of Google's shadow.

In the aftermath of an acquisition, Microsoft will find Yahoo hard to swallow and even harder to digest. The Sunnyvale Internet giant has an estimated market value from $38 billion to $50 billion, which does not compare to the $296 billion to $300 billion of Microsoft but still, it will make for the largest acquisition in the Redmond Company's history. Additionally, Yahoo has approximately 11,700 employees. Integrating the new personnel with the existing 76,500 employees of Microsoft will not be an easy process. Even more so since Microsoft and Yahoo employ two radically different company politics.

Adding Microsoft's 2006 online ad revenue, approximately $2.29 billion with Yahoo's $4.56 billion will match Google's $7.3 billion, but the Mountain View search giant has exploded in 2007 and has increased the ad income by 32.1%, a figure that will continue to grow after DoubleClick will be assimilated. And the third reason is directly related to the Yahoo and Microsoft eyeballs. The users of the two companies will be impacted by a merger, and as various services will inherently overlap, and some will disappear, visitors might choose other online destinations. And in the end, the advertising industry is nothing without eyeballs.