Yahoo’ announcement that it was rejecting Microsoft’s long-running attempt at a take-over came as a bit of shock. Just 2 weeks ago an MSN staff member was telling me that the deal was all but done and that when Yahoo! had finished grabbing headlines then both companies would get down to business and put together a serious challenge to Google.

Imagine my further surprise then when it is announced that Yahoo! was going to enter a partnership allowing Google to serve ads against Yahoo’s search results in the US & Canada. While at first I was suspicious of the deal, only having been vaguely interested in the trial that was conducted earlier this year, as I read more into it the deal began to make sense.

As someone who has to work with all the major search technologies, there is no getting around the fact that Google’s advertising platform is easier to use and optimise than any of the other platforms (including Yahoo’s Panama).

However then it began to dawn on me that this is it. The winner has been decided by Yahoo! bowing out of the race.

In agreeing to use Google’s technology (and therefore pricing structure) Yahoo! has essentially given up on developing a better one (no matter what they may say). As such, whether you were a fan of Google’s PPC model or not is no longer relevant because now it is the industry standard. So much for innovation – there is no longer an incentive.

Whereas the merger of Yahoo! and Microsoft would have had the potential to lead to new types of PPC pricing and models, now we will just have to wait to see what Google deems appropriate.

The world of PPC just got that little more boring…

Header image by Orin Optiglot on flickr

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