Big Day for Y/G/M

by Andrew Goodman

You are all aware of the multitude of big announcements in the space by now - Yahoo concluding talks with Microsoft, Yahoo partnering with Google, etc.
We'll no doubt have more to say, but quick takes for now.

I've been saying for awhile that I think a partnership with Google to display ads is a bad idea. Yahoo seems to be under the impression this will up their revenues. Perhaps, but it will also continue to slow adoption of their own Panama ad platform, and speed up the complete victory of Google AdWords. Advertisers may notice even less volume through Panama than before - think they'll thank Yahoo for that? No - they'll place even more stock in Google's ability to deliver the goods. The move *definitely* hurts Microsoft. And so there is one clear loser in the scenario.

There is a lot more going on with Yahoo and all of these companies. It will continue to be a complex growth story for all.

And need we remind you that Yahoo concluding talks with Microsoft will not deter proxy fighters like Carl Icahn from trying to kick out the board and force some kind of deal anyway. Will that prove to be noise? Time will tell.

In the end, we've seen Yahoo display pride and to stand up for itself - with the reservation that it has had to align itself with Google in order to do so. No matter what happens from here on in, it is clear that Yahoo has taken a clear stance in favor of, well, itself. And the potential of its peanut buttery array of strengths. And it has decided to treat search as just another piece of the puzzle, another tool, another of many monetization angles. Right or wrong, that's really how Yahoo's been treating search since 1998.  

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