Yahoo disclosed in a SEC filing Friday that they spent $79 million to stop the Microsoft take over, which I am sure will annoy some stockholders who now have stock priced around $13 when the Microsoft bid went as high as $33.
Interestingly Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer still is interested in the acquisition, though you would need a dance card to keep track of who is for or against the merger/buyout.
Google remains the dominant player in search marketing, but the industry is changing very rapidly and the old certainties may erode. Does voice search provide a platform for Microsoft to compete?
While mobile apps seem to be monopolizing much of search, SEO and SEM are not going anywhere anytime soon. But industry participants agree that the execution of search marketing has to change.
Google changes its algorithm based on current search behaviors so it makes sense that Dot Brands don't affect ranking - however, there's a strong possibility that could change in the future.