The battle rages on...

The battle between Google and Microsoft has heated up once again with the announced acquisition of MedStory by Microsoft which they described as a signal of "a long-term commitment toward the development of a broader consumer health strategy" and which they hope would provide them with the "specialized search engine tailored to deliver useful medical information to consumers."

We're sure you've heard about this all day – from bloggers covering it, such as Donna Bogatin, to the prestigious papers such as the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times (and many others).

Why so much action? Why is this so important?

Several reasons:

1. The healthcare field is a very hot field now --especially with the aging baby boomers. Therefore, when another major corporation enter the health care field, it is major news. Google and Steve Case (former head of AOL) are already major players in the health field with Google Health (yet to launch) and Revolution Health (launched last month) respectively. (We aren't holding our breadths for Yahoo to be a part of this battle on the health care field).
2. There seems to be a friendly (?) battle between Google and Microsoft. After all, according to Donna Bogatin, one of Google's strategies is "Death to the (Microsoft) hierarchy." Evidence of Google succeeding is seen in its relative success with Google Apps – a territory Microsoft has had a monopoly on.
3. Finally, finally, finally--- corporations are looking for ways to get information (our medical information) to the consumers. Doctors, hospitals, insurance companies (and really anyone who wants our medical information) has access to it--- anyone but us! Everyone else can have access to it, but we can't have access to our own records-- how does this make any sense? It doesn't! and finally companies are addressing this issue.
4. ANY news is more important than where Anna Nicole Smith gets buried. Let the woman rest in peace at last.

It will be interesting to see what unfolds though Microsoft might have a little bit of catching up to do. Adam Bosworth, the vice president of engineering at Google, announced in his speech in early December the need for a "health URL" (which we can all take to mean that Google is creating said "health URL"). In late January, Steve Case launched the (anticipated?) Revolution Health. Who will win this race – the race for the hearts, and trust of the consumers? Is the field big enough for all these titan players?

We'll see…. Though our money’s on Google.