It is being reported today that Google may bailout of it’s proposed partnership with Yahoo on Ad serving. The deal was announced in June as a way to provide Yahoo a lifeline and cover with it’s shareholders during the Microsoft hostile takeover fiasco. However, thanks to intense lobbying from Microsoft and complaints by advertisers that they “may see” higher ad costs as a result, so the DoJ is looking into it for antitrust violations, and it appears Google is having second thoughts.
Frankly, I do not blame them. I would scrap it too. They did this to assist a fellow company in need to escape from being absorbed into the abyss that is Microsoft. While I am sure they may have squeaked out a tidy profit from the deal, I have a hard time beleiving that this was their ultimate goal. With the added presure and scrutiny from the press and governement, not to mention the legal costs, I am sure whatever profits and goodwill they had hoped for have all but evaporated. Another cause maybe the potential for a tie up between Yahoo and AOL. Any potential deal with AOL could change the dynamic of the deal with Google, as AOL has its own competing ad serving platform.
Regardless of what happens, I am still glad that the deal occured in the first place, as it seemed to be a nail in the coffin of the Microsoft bid. My only request is that Yahoo now do something with the lifeline it was given, such as buying AOL and integrating their already disparate other web properties. I think that this is something that AOL can help them with as they have long been the master of creating well integrated content and properties.
You must log in to post a comment.