Archive for: time warner

Microsoft Is Losing Yahoo to Merger With AOL

The soap opera that is Microsoft bid for Yahoo is continuing. Firstly it is reported by the WSJ that Yahoo is closing in on a merger with AOL. If the deal goes through, the two companies would combine their web and internet based services. Yahoo! would reportedly use some of the revenue from a merger with Time Warner/AOL to buy back a whole bunch of stock which woudl help the company fend off any further unwanted advances from Microsoft.

While at the same time it is reported that Yahoo has begun testing out Search Ads from Google. Then Microsoft hit back with the following statement about the search testing:

From Brad Smith, Microsoft’s General Counsel:

“Any definitive agreement between Yahoo! and Google would consolidate over 90% of the search advertising market in Google’s hands. This would make the market far less competitive, in sharp contrast to our own proposal to acquire Yahoo! We will assess closely all of our options. Our proposal remains the only alternative put forward that offers Yahoo! shareholders full and fair value for their shares, gives every shareholder a vote on the future of the company, and enhances choice for content creators, advertisers, and consumers.”

Well, what can I see happening? I expect that AOL and Yahoo will potentially merge, but this it might happen in about 6 months time. In terms of search advertising between Google and Yahoo, im sure this cant continue because of the amount of marketshare they will have between them. Finally, Microsoft have no chance of purchasing Yahoo, I cant see it happening because Yahoo shareholders and directors would have already agreed if there was something that was going to happen.

More news from around the world.

AOL Make Final Ad Network Purchase

AOL has been putting the final touches on its new ad conglomerate, Platform A. AOL has confirmed that they have purchased Quigo for a reported $340 million. Quigo is a contextual ad network which has two main services, AdSonar and FeedPoint. Adsonar is very similar to Google’s Adsense in that it provides targeted advertisements on various websites, and FeedPoint is their search engine marketing tool.

AOL Chairman and CEO Randy Falco said, “With Quigo, we are putting the final pieces of Platform A in place. We will be able to offer advertisers and publishers the most advanced set of tools, including contextual and behavioral targeting, superior analytics, and access to the largest display network in the marketplace.”

Quigo will become part of Platform A which already includes Advertising.com, Tacoda, Third Screen Media, Lightningcast and Adtech.

Overall, the purchases that AOL have made has been a bit surprising. All of these ad networks are in a variety of areas and it is going to be very interesting over the next few years to see if they can put them all into one neat package. Targeting users is vital when it comes to PPC marketing and the company that can be the most efficient at this will control the future of PPC.