Google Wins Again - ASK is History

OK so maybe not history, but if you read this article about ASK changing their business model to appeal to married women, it's pretty clear that they have raised the white flag and given up competing with Google. It's actually a smart move as they are focusing more on their core user group. But it now makes the MSN / YAHOO deal all that much more interesting. Personally, as much as I love Google, I don't believe that this news, or a potential MSN/Yahoo deal is good for SEO professionals. What Google needs is more competition and not less. Unfortunately, no other companies are in a position to compete with them at this time. Certainly not Yahoo or MSN. Even if they do merge these two still won't be able to produce a better product. Their corporate cultures can't compete. How can putting two sub standard technologies together make one that is better than the leader? It can't. And it won't. So as ASK fades into the distance as Altavista once did, it makes Google seem that much more important to anyone looking to drive significant traffic to their Web site via organic search.