Silicon Alley Insider's Henry Blodget declares "Bing", Microsoft's new search engine, dead on arrival, and says the software giant should really consider leaving the Internet business behind. Blodget
starts by taking issue with a recent analogy from CEO Steve Ballmer, in which he says it took several years and several tries before Windows became a household name. Ballmer said he hopes that Bing
can come from behind in a similar manner.
But Ballmer fails to acknowledge that Microsoft had a monopoly in operating systems, Blodget says. "When you have a monopoly, everyone buys your
upgrades ... mostly because they don't have a choice." In search, Microsoft, at 8% market share, is far from having a monopoly. "It has a product that has a few cool features but is no better than the
market leader's product and is easy to copy," says Blodget. "And it has a vast, powerful, and talented competitor that has every incentive to make sure its foot stays firmly on Microsoft's throat." He
adds: "Windows analogies aren't just weak here. They're delusional."
In fact, Bing will simply be another in a long line of Web-based disappointments for Microsoft, Blodget says,
imploring the software giant to give up on the Web altogether. "Microsoft has been telling the same story about the Internet for the past 15 years. Despite touting its come-from-behind successes on
the PC platform, investing billions of dollars, having every conceivable competitive advantage (unlimited resources, exceptional technologists, 95% operating system share, 90%+ browser share), the
company is still where it was at the beginning: Running a distant, unprofitable third." Instead of moving forward with Bing and MSN, the company should spin both into Yahoo in exchange for a major
share of the combined company, Blodget says.
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