Two key terms on the microsoft yahoo search deal were as follow:
- Microsoft’s Bing will be the exclusive algorithmic search and paid search platform for Yahoo! sites.
- Self-serve advertising for both companies will be fulfilled by Microsoft’s AdCenter platform, and prices for all search ads will continue to be set by AdCenter’s automated auction process.
Where does that leave Yahoo Search Marketing? Although it still make sense to advertise with YSM while waiting for the deal to be passed and really getting things consolidated with Bing and Adcenter(at least another 24 months following regulatory approval), it seems obvious to me that Yahoo Search Marketing will go down as one of the most-promising-but-failed-to-deliver-long-term-value product from Yahoo as all these tasks will be done in Adcenter in the future anyway. At the same time, I also wonder what will happen to Yahoo Web Analytics.
What’s your take about this?
