The picture that has just been painted is probable.
However there are other search engines and people with ideas. If there were mega mergers in the internet market, these would likely be 2 years out or more at the rate of change currently at hand.
In the mean time, for me the little seller my optimism is placed in developing as many webpages as I can, quickly as I can to build my little sustaining empire.
I also have optimism in many smaller search engines and companies having the vision to promote alternatives to any changes.
This is the normal radical behavior of risk taking capital adventurers. Even auctiva can see or at least is looking at the writing on the wall and is either discounting it, or is taking measures toward their different kind of future.
Its amazing with ebays last update july 1 deadline, how many auction hosts are not done or complete in what they offer for auction hosting. Read the inkfog boards to see nothing but ongoing troubles with their auction hosting system and the continuation of their update and sorting out their sd merger. I am so glad to have landed over here at auctiva.
There definitely seems to be some kind of disjointed event or disunified activity to all this right now. There doesn't seem to be a real cohesivity to marketing on the net. Sort of like a scramble to get it all back together again. I for one am feeling the effect and am putting my efforts into my perspective of my internet future.