Google and Yahoo have revised their search advertising partnership in the hopes of winning over the DOJ. Primarily, the deal has been reduced from 10 to 2 years and a cap has been placed that would restrict Yahoo to only being able to bring into 25% of their search advertising revenue from the deal with Google.
It’s unlikely that shortening the deal will qualm the fears of advertisers. Robert Liodice, president of the Association of National Advertisers, which opposes the deal, told the New York Times, “If a deal can’t survive long-term scrutiny, what’s the benefit of allowing it for the short term?”
Still, keeping Yahoo alive as the second place competitor in the search market is ultimately good for advertisers. As Mike Masnick over at TechDirt wrote, “We’re still waiting for a clear explanation of how this deal will actually negatively impact consumers, but some people still insist it will. For those who believe so, let’s ask a simple question: how is this any worse than Yahoo disappearing from the marketplace? Because if the company doesn’t do something soon that may be what we’re looking at.”
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