Yahoo To Run Limited Test of Google Adsense For Search Service In The U.S.
April 13th, 2008 by hbond{{chris}} Yahoo has announced this past week that it is going to run a very limited and short test of Google’s Adsense for Search Service in the U.S.
The Microsoft – Yahoo! merger drama got just a little more complicated last week when Yahoo! announced in a press release that they are running a very limited test of the Google Adsense for Search Service. It’s a short 2 week deal that would show Google Adsense results on 3% of U.S. searches only. According to the press release the test will apply only to traffic from Yahoo.com in the U.S. and does not include their extended network of affiliate or premium publisher partners.
According to Yahoo! the test does not mean that Yahoo! will join the Adsense For Search program. They are simply testing out potential business relationships to maximize stakeholder value. Baloney!
In my opinion it’s obvious they are trying to shake up the talks with Microsoft in order to get a higher share price in the deal. Microsoft on the other hand is a strong negotiator and I doubt such a tactic will cause them to change their minds. In fact, Microsoft’s Brad Smith responded with the following:
“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.”
I happen to agree with Microsoft on this one. A merger with them would provide a strong competitor to Google in the search marketplace – while a small merger with Google would only limit the competition. The question is will regulators weigh in on the merger talks and dictate what will happen? To date we’ve not seen much merger regulation on the Internet mostly because it did not have too much of an impact on world economies. That does appear to be changing slowly and I fully expect their to be some involvement in these talks.
So what do you think about these latest events? Is Yahoo! seriously considering partnering with Google? Or is it just a negotiating position with Microsoft?
Google is trying to help yahoo get back on its feet. They are doing this to keep microsoft away!
Yeah its all business eh, Google are not stupid and will do all they can.
The sleeping giant looks to be getting shook up again. I’ve been thinking for some time now that yahoo has been grasping. . . siding with microsoft for vista OS search, along with the recent developments. It makes me wonder whats going on underneath the tip of the iceberg.
I don’t believe Google is shook up but I do think they are smart enough to keep Yahoo underneath them. Google will stay strong because they are smart. They did not become top dog and stay that way by running scared.
I think there is probably a lot going on behind the scenes and it wouldnt surprise me if one of the motivations was leverage. Another option is that they are trying to fill advertising space on specific keywords to try and encourage competition on them.
Any kind of merger between any of these companies is no doubt going to bring more competitors onto my keyword campaigns as competition for advertising space may become more concentrated.
Is anyone else concerned that this might affect their PPC campaigns via increased competition and rising keyword prices?
It’s interesting to see how Google is trying to help this giant. Is this to protect them from the Microsoft bid at takeover?
Some business would consider Google to be the “white knight” in the Yahoo / Microsoft Saga.
Clearly Yahoo doesn’t want to be affiliated with neither Google nor Microsoft but considers Microsoft the bigger threat at the moment.
Two thoughts:
1) It might actually make sense from a purely business standpoint for Yahoo to run Google ads on its search network. Google has a far superior ad inventory to yahoo, which means more, better targeted ads on the Yahoo search results page. This may actually increase Yahoo’s ad revenue on its search network.
2) There will be no Yahoo / Google alliance. Even if it got past the US regulatory body, there is no way in hell it would get past the EU, which seems to be making a sport out of slapping around large US companies wanting to do business there (Microsoft, anyone?)
Cheers
Stu
I think if Yahoo partners with Microsoft, then it’ll be a threat to Google but I’m pretty sure that Google will pull it through because it is widely used by us. Even in movies, when someone searches on the net they always say “Google It” instead of “Search it” so it’ll be a hard task for yahoo and Microsoft if they’re trying to beat Google by joining. If there are Yahoo and Google Alliance, then that would benefit both of them. Imagine two giant search engines joining forces. That’ll be great.
If MS and Yahoo! join up then it’ll really provide some competition for Google. We’re the ones who will benefit from such a competitive situation!
So does this mean that YPN is done? If so, too bad, I made some good money off them
I think if Yahoo! is even testing this idea, it means they are running fairly low on advertisers. I think it would be interesting, and acceptable, for Yahoo! to sell remnant space on the entire Yahoo! network to Google’s Adsense, since this wouldn’t necessarily combine the two giants. What this would do, however, is push people to buy more on Google in hopes they will be placed on both search engines.
Has something like this happened before in other media? I am not versed enough in marketing history to think of an example.
I kinda like the idea. Hopefully it keeps Yahoo on its feet for awhile and I’m fine with that. The guys over at Google know what they’re doing.
Hey Kyle,
I like your thoughts on this topic! I wonder how Google would make the inventory available to users in Adwords?
Wow.. i didn’t know that…thanks for the great post…
This has some very interesting possibilities. It could be something great for us all.