My personal assessment is that most of the dot.com ads fell short of what they should have done, which is educate people on why they should visit the site.
Yahoo is taking aim at women and other people who have felt left out of the discussion.
Ad-supported software for consumers and very small businesses is only the beginning. Microsoft's real aim is to build and host a service platform that will attract the investment of developers looking for a way to reach these market sectors.
They have to differentiate themselves. And entertainment is a big part of peoples' lives.
I think that women no longer have to set up a boundary between work life and home life. One of the hallmarks of my thinking is that I bring a lot of my personal life into my work. That's a huge advantage I have over men, who may feel they have to separate the two.