Gaining market share in search is what sparked Microsoft's original interest in Yahoo. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said repeatedly that he wanted economies of scale in search to compete with Google. Since that initial effort, Microsoft launched the Bing search engine and is now integrating its search partnership with Yahoo. However, companies can't be blinded by the allure of a head start when it comes to dealing with integration challenges. Culture clashes, departing personnel and the inability to innovate are all risks, says Hsu.