• Because of Google’s dominance in Internet search, the combination of the second (Yahoo!) and third (MSN) search engines will enhance rather than hurt competition.
• The large market shares of Yahoo! and Microsoft in Instant Messaging (IM) and in free email are not likely to create antitrust difficulties in the merger.
• Despite the European Union’s recently announced investigation of Microsoft on bundling, the EU is not likely to stop this merger.
• The merger is complementary in other activities of the two companies, such as in mobile phones.

• Combining Microsoft’s ownership of the traditional PC market with Yahoo’s sophistication in the online consumer world could create a single company poised to win in the emerging world of consumer computing that is increasingly moving off the desktop and onto the Internet.
• Adding Yahoo’s extensive expertise in the Internet technology realm positions Microsoft to dominate the enterprise market in the coming decades.
• The combined company will be the dominant provider of e-mail – Yahoo! Mail and Microsoft’s Hotmail are the two most popular such services – and have a substantial combined presence in a myriad of other online properties."~NYU Stern

**update**

Microsoft is using their might to oust the Yahoo! board of directors. They have decided to kick it up a notch and try to takeover Yahoo! in a hostile manner.