The Google-Yahoo search deal is receiving some unlikely support in the form of Google's advertisers, Bloomberg News reports. As Microsoft urges regulators not to allow Yahoo to run Google search ads,
advertisers are stepping up and saying the move would actually lower their cost, making the deal a good thing for the overall search market. But Microsoft maintains that the deal would reduce
competition in Internet advertising leading to higher prices.
But regulators might be more inclined to listen to the advertisers, whose only vested interest lies in the best market
situation --presumably the same line regulators would take in evaluating whether to allow the Google-Yahoo deal. As Google customers tell Bloomberg, the arrangement might actually lower their costs
because Google ads do a better job targeting Web users.
"The agreement between Yahoo and Google should help the relevancy of our advertising on Yahoo, which should actually make the
dollars we spend more efficient," said Geoff Atkinson, VP of tactical marketing at Overstock.com Inc. Eric Parkinson, who runs distribution at Empire Film Group Inc., agreed that search consolidation
was a good thing for marketers. "When it comes to online advertising, it's simpler to reach people if the access to the marketplace is controlled by fewer sources," he said.
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