Microsoft+Yahoo vs Google

The big news that rocked both the business and technology worlds was Microsoft's offer to buy Yahoo for 44.6 billion. You'd have to believe this could make MSFT a serious competitor now for Google. It makes good sense, as Yahoo and Microsoft are the two other major search engines. Microsoft had lost ground to Google which seems to be like the Berkshire Hathaway of internet stocks. Google basically encompasses so many functions and features it's mindblowing. Now it will be interesting to see how Microsoft merges its programs with those of Yahoo. For example sites like MyBlogLog are already owned by Yahoo. Then you have the search engines themselves, Yahoo's website hosting plans, advertising program (similar to Google's).

Speaking of Google, I received an interesting email earlier (not from Google) which discusses how Adsense publishers are reporting mixed results lately. Some publishers are seeing a serious downturn in earnings while others have seen an upswing. What I've noticed is interesting. Organic search engine traffic has been moving up for several of my blogs and click pricing has been lower. But I've still done well due to all the new traffic. The email mentioned that this drop in earnings could be directly related to advertisers pulling back on spending which is due to economic worries.

So it's a tough call with Adsense, but it still continues to be a top earner for many. I still agree with John Chow's guiding advice, to find as many monetization sources as you can for your blog or site. It might be nice to enjoy earnings from something like Amazon or an Affiliate sale while you're waiting for Adsense to increase.