Microsoft Corporation (MSFT), Google Inc (GOOG): Reluctant Cooperation!

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) have shown themselves to not be each other’s biggest fans. Maybe we can put it this way – Microsoft has shown a complete malevolence toward Google, especially over the lat year with Redmond’s campaigns to try to get users away from Google Search and Gmail in some of the more recent campaigns. Choose us over them, they went – do not compromise, they say. Choose us exclusively or choose them.

We’re not saying that this news is some kind of olive branch or showing a willingness to compromise as much as it is likely a recognition of reality. But we read this morning that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has enabled users of its Outlook.com e-mail client to connect with friends and family who are on Gmail through Google Chat. Yes, Microsoft has provided the opportunity for users of Outlook to log into Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) Chat to have chat, audio or video conversations with those friends and contacts who apparently have not “wised up” and made the switch yet.

This seems to fly in the face of certain Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) attack angles against Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), not the least of which is Google’s notorious reputation for scanning e-mails and contextual chat sessions to determine with its algorithm the types of targeted ads to display to Gmail or Google Chat users. “We do not have any queasiness about adding Google Chat,” said Dharmesh Mehta, senior director of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Outlook.com division. “We think it’s important to give people choice so they can make their email more personal. It also gives people one more reason to switch from Gmail to Outlook.com.”

Whether this olive branch or Trojan horse strategy will work remains to be seen, but Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is claiming major success in cutting into Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s free e-mail market share.

While Google claims about 425 million Gmail users, Microsoft says its Outlook.com client has compiled 400 million users after it migrated all of its other e-mail domains (Hotmail, MSN.com) over to Outlook. The current number is up 11 percent from three months ago.

What are your thoughts? Do you think this collaboration will help Microsoft in the long run, or do you think it will ultimately help Google? Give us your feedback in the comments section below.

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