The best picture I've seen of the current events on Microsoft and Yahoo! is of a big fish (Microsoft) swallowing a small fish (Yahoo!).  Even funnier is that the big fish (Microsoft) is inside the belly of a whale of a fish (Google) that has a funny smirk on its face.  Who would have thought, just a few years ago that Microsoft would be the little guy in a very large technology market.  Some of the numbers I see in the WSJ, Forbes and the Financial Times put market share around 65% for Google, 13% for Yahoo and 3% for Microsoft - this is of course, talking about search activity.

Why do I care about this development?  Because search is a foundation activity for a very personalized web experience.  It shows up everywhere: when I'm writing and looking for just the right word or when I need to reference a publication for credibility.  Search is important when I'm looking for a nice place to take my wife for dinner.  It's important for when I'm learning about new technologies and I want company background.  It helps me decide who I want to support with my vote for the next President (Obama, Hillary, McCain, etc.).  Search is a very personal experience that happens on demand when I'm ready do to something in many, many aspects of my life - personal and business.

Microsoft understands it - now and is trying to buy their way in.  Google and Yahoo! understood it a long time ago.

One of the reasons why this battle is important and why I am closely observing it, is because I believe Google's  reliance on algorithms instead of on human editors to categorize information and make it searchable is the better choice for automating the marketing processes.  Some would argue that human decisions are superior to mathematical equations - yet, when it comes to categorically defining terabytes of information, the efficiency of the Google operation is truly hard to match with humans.  Expecially for consistency.  We all know that humans are notorious for being inconsistent and "flip-flopping."

The ad serving platform that Google has developed and Microsoft is trying to counter, really is a boon to marketing professionals of all disciplines.  Whether it be in public relations or statistical modeling.  It is a platform for development and every marketer needs to embrace it and others like it.

Your ability to tie into personalized information serving platforms (its not just for advertising), like Google, will be increasingly important over the next decade.  I believe it will reach into every new development that occurs in the areas of science, education, medical care, personal relationships, etc.

If you're in business - this is the one to watch.