Microsoft -Yahoo Merge: What It Means for SEO Digital Marketing

Just over one year ago Microsoft and Yahoo finally left the negotiating table after concluding a ten year deal: And the world of digital marketing took a deep breath. How would this significant change affect PPC and SEO digital marketing campaigns? Could everyone expect a significant rise in the cost for premium traffic? Would (could) this be a positive turn of events for PPC and SEO digital marketing campaigns? According to Yahoo the merge would marginally reduce overall revenue but raise operational revenues by half a billion dollars a year.

This was not a hostile takeover by any means: It is a partnership and a bid to tip the mighty Google from its dominating pedestal in the world of online search. Both Yahoo and Microsoft – Bing – retained their own branding. Of the partnership, Yahoo is now responsible for attracting premium PPC digital marketing advertisers. In return, Bing gives Yahoo 88% of its revenue gained from Yahoo Search. Yahoo Search is now powered by Bing – Although as yet, whether Bing will integrate Yahoo into its search platform remains to be seen.

American online searchers are first to note the changes then the rest of the world will witness the full affect of the merge by 2012. If you believe the hype according to Yahoo and Bing the merge delivers - Real Choice: Better Value and More Innovation. Without doubt there is a lot of speculation going on from all sides: And as it will take some time for the changes to take full effect, online digital marketing companies and website owners will have to go with that. Even so, there are certain aspects which cannot be ignored…

Without doubt Microsoft is out to change the game-plan for Google and the two have been playing for some time now – Not hard to remember how Google Wave hit back within 24hrs of Microsoft launching the Bing search. Therefore, while it may be somewhat speculation invariably competition is good for advertisers and publishers: Costs should go down and commissions up. In which case, it looks like good news for those pushing PPC digital marketing campaigns.

Another positive aspect from a digital marketing point of view is that targeting traffic should become easier because the search results should become more comprehensive and so relevant. This not only means that the PPC digital marketing budget is not being consumed by irrelevant traffic: It also means conversions should be more reliable.

According to Microsoft Chief Steve Ballmer the deal is a, "win-win agreement both for Microsoft and for Yahoo". Google has around 65% of the lions share at the moment. The Microsoft Yahoo merger makes them this heavyweight’s most viable competition: Therefore a viable advertising opportunity for marketers. So, what’s the overall conclusion? Competition is good…

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