by Mark Linnhoefer
“It’s like Pepsi would suddenly agree to have little Coca-Cola ads on its bottles.”
Was the first thought that crossed this reporter’s mind when hearing Yahoo’s announcement on Tuesday that the rival internet company signed a search advertising deal with search giant Google Inc.
The agreement is based on a similar pact between Yahoo and Microsoft, which promises Yahoo a share of the revenues derived from ads on Yahoo sites.
Yahoo President and CEO Marissa Mayer took this surprising step to get the company back on track after it suffered strong losses in ad sales, general revenue and share value, and increased spending on traffic generating measures.
The losses suffered in revenue from ad sales can mostly be attributed to the strong prevalence of Facebook and Google, both of which outshine Yahoo by far.
Experts were quoted by Reuters that Yahoo is estimated to be worth a hell of a lot less without its Asian assets, including the spin-off with Chinese e-commerce superlative Alibaba and stakes in the Yahoo Japan Corp. According to Reuters, a number of analysts “attribute little value to Yahoo’s core business.”
The company’s shares fell by a staggering 35% this year, leaving the management with little options but turning to their nemesis and signing a deal with Google.
Mayer might even have tried to get Google to buy Yahoo, but Google simply couldn’t be bothered and out of pity offered the advertising deal. But that, of course, is nothing but speculation.
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