While some businesses have already touted the search engine optimization (SEO) benefits of a deal, advertisers seem to be getting behind a Microhoo partnership as the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) offered its support to a prospective merger between the search arms of Yahoo and Microsoft, saying that the deal would promote stronger competition in the online advertising sector.
The AAAA sent an open letter to the Department of Justice on Monday, saying that the proposed merger is "good for advertisers, marketing service agencies, website publishers, and consumers." The letter was signed by AAAA president Nancy Hill, as well as four high-profile advertising CEOs.
A Microsoft – Yahoo merger has been under discussion for sometime, though preliminary efforts undertaken last year were scuttled by threatened legal action by the Department of Justice. MediaPost reports that that deal, unlike the current one, was strenuously opposed by a number of advertising and related industry groups.
Nor is the current proposed merger universally welcomed. Another open letter to the DoJ, published last month a coalition of consumer watchdog organizations called into question the effect that such a merger would have on the quality of available services.
