Wandering Soul

I was missing in action for a long time, and for good reasons. I was preparing for the GMAT, and with the test now behind me, here I am, back on the blog.

I scored 710 (Q=48; V=40) on the GMAT. While I know my score is not world-beating, I am happy with it. A score of 700+ on the GMAT does give you an edge when applying to B-schools. If you are planning to take the GMAT and are unable to decide between the host of prep material out there, then let me make it a bit easier for you.

I had a mix of online study material and books. I referred to an online compilation of GMAT material to start with. It was brought to my notice by my buddy, Saumil. Unfortunately that site is unavailable now.

After that came the books and their accompanying CDs. I used Kaplan GMAT Premier Program, Princeton Review’s Cracking the GMAT and The Official Guide to GMAT Review 11. I should thank my close friend Anuj Kacker, who’s presently pursuing his MBA at The Indian School of Business, for lending me these books.

A week before the test, I downloaded the official GMATprep software from mba.com. The GMATPrep will give you an idea of what you can expect from the real test, as this software carries actual questions from earlier GMATs.

The best method of preparation is to practise solving the questions. Once you get comfortable with the various types of questions, then you’ll actually start enjoying the tests.

Microsoft wants to catch up with Google. Google is way ahead in the Internet Search market, and ads linked to text-search. And with Google developing its own internet based softwares and office applications that directly compete with Microsoft Office, Microsoft wants to go on the offensive.

In order to catch up, Microsoft wants to take over Yahoo! and increase its market share in Internet Search and search-linked advertising. Yahoo! is the second most-used search engine after Google.

Microsoft was in talks with Yahoo! last year for a proposed takeover. Since then the push from Microsoft had slackened. According to the report on New York Post, Micorsoft has intensified its pursuit of a deal with Yahoo! after losing DoubleClick to Google last month. Microsoft has apparently employed Goldman Sachs to see the deal through.

Microsoft has an option of catapulting itself into a competitive position by buying 5 - 10 smaller companies. But with the loss of DoubleClick, that option seems to be fading. The only other option is to buy something like Yahoo!

According to New York Post, a deal between Microsoft and Yahoo! would up the combined companies’ share of the all-important search advertising market to 27 percent against Google’s 65 percent. It would also narrow the gap in overall online ads with Google to just 13 percent.

More importantly, a deal would drastically increase the eyeballs, potentially increasing advertising. Microsoft and Yahoo! also feature complimentary offerings on the content side. MSN draws an older audience with its news focus, whereas Yahoo! attracts a younger demographic with its entertainment coverage.

The talks are still in the initial stages and neither company is commenting on anything. Let’s wait and watch how the deal goes through and how Google reacts to it…

UPDATE: Bloomberg reports Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s top internet ad man, as saying that it could take at least five and maybe 10 years for Microsoft to gain significant traction against Google’s search. A Yahoo partnership could make Microsoft a threat right away and may be its only choice to keep up with Google’s acquisitions. In another story, alarm:clock reports that Google is stepping up its efforts to buy the Internet job portal SimplyHired. The purchase makes sense for Google, as it doesn’t have a job site in its folds, when the online job search market is growing rapidly. This buy out news is close on the heels of the Microsoft-Yahoo news. Is it the case of Google trying to consolidate it’s position as the leader in online services and advertising market?