US Justice investigate Yahoo and Google.

Competition is a good thing. We all know that. And now, as Microsoft goes on the hunt for corporate partners to help break up Yahoo!, Yahoo! gets scrutinized in a monopoly investigation for holding hands with Google.

As your comments to my previous posts testify, we all want to see competition breeding more creativity at the top of the Internet industry. But whichever way Yahoo turns right now, it looks like a backward step.

Are there really only 2 options? Does it have to be either Microsoft OR Google. Or is it possible that an investment angel can swoop in to keep Yahoo! independent and free it from the vultures.

Who could it be?

News Corp?… Time Warner?

Each of these would have good reason, if only to assist Myspace and AOL respectively.

Or perhaps Microsoft will succeed in embracing both these players in a joint take-over deal and dividing the spoils between them.

Wouldn’t it be ironic if the company with the highest competition legal bills in history, is subsequently responsible for fragmentizing its arch rival?

Google-hoo!

Google and Yahoo! are prevented from starting work on their combined search advertising deal for 100 days while the US Dept of Justice investigates it.

The deal would give them 80% of the web search market. Now that can’t be a good thing…!

So which would you rather? Google, Microsoft, or a Microsoft-led sell-off.

Or has anyone got Warren Buffet’s telephone number? – perhaps he could step in to give the industry a future inclusive of Yahoo! as we know it.

Which outcome do you prefer?