Instant Messenger War: How Yahoo!, Micosoft and AOL Kill Google Talk August 31, 2005

Conspiracy theory is a theory seeking to explain a disputed case or matter as a plot by a secret group or alliance rather than an individual or isolated act. How do you think Yahoo!, Microsoft and AOL will respond over the launch of Google Talk, instant messenger created by Google. Instant-messaging software from those companies is available for free, but it is an important moneymaking tool because it increases traffic to those sites, which in turn helps generate more advertising or subscription revenue. Also, as companies offer more news and entertainment on their sites, having a communications tool to deliver and distribute that content is increasingly important. But … there is a conspiracy theory.

It is rumoured that within the last few weeks, there appears to have been a meeting between MSN , Yahoo and AOL . They’d all been talking amongst themselves — and sparsely with each other — about how to respond to Google over Google Talk, but were still trying to make up their minds. Do you want to know the theory, read it through.