Yahoo-Google "dis" Microsoft in OpenSocial hug -- the real reason for the new alliance

Apparently, Yahoo is trying to douse itself with some "Microsoft-repellant" in joining Google's OpenSocial allance and forming a non-profit OpenSocial Foundation with Google and MySpace.

While Yahoo's OpenSocial press release never mentioned Microsoft, the impetus for this change of heart by Yahoo was clearly a way to "dis" Microsoft and make Yahoo marginally less attractive to Microsoft.

• Let's connect the dots and by looking more closely at the timing of all this.
  • Google originally announced OpenSocial almost five months ago with Yahoo nowhere to be found.
  • Microsoft offers to buy Yahoo roughly two months ago.
  • EU clears Google-DoubleClick merger, two weeks ago, giving Google the antitrust freedom to mess with Microsoft's attempt to buy Yahoo.  
  • A week ago, Google's CEO says to reporters  "We would be concerned by any kind of acquisition of Yahoo by Microsoft"... "We would hope that anything they did would be consistent with the openness of the Internet, but I doubt it would be."  
• Lets also look at the list of most all the major social networking companies that are now part of Google's OpenSocial alliance:
  • "Global members of the OpenSocial community include Engage.com, Friendster, hi5, Hyves, imeem, LinkedIn, Ning, Oracle, orkut, Plaxo, Salesforce.com, Six Apart, Tianji, Viadeo, XING, and others."
    • Notice that Facebook (Microsoft's ally) is not included in this list.
  • Note that just one week before Google announced OpenSocial Microsoft outmaneuvered Google by investing $240m in Facebook.
  • Also note that three months ago, Google surrogate Moveon.org organized an online petition against FaceBook's Beacon initiative as a privacy problem as reported by the New York Times.

There is always a back story or a hidden reason behind every new strategic alliance.

• In this case, aligning with Google in OpenSocial was a cute form of civil disobedience against the Microsoft buyout offer that has just enough "plausible deniability" to not get Yahoo's board in trouble with big shareholders of Yahoo who don't appreciate Yahoo's unwillingness to maximize Yahoo's shareholder value.   
• Yahoo can plausibly say, this new alliance has nothing to do with Microsoft, when its clear from the sequence of events -- it has a whole lot to do with the Microsoft bid.