ANA Objects To Yahoo-Google Ad Deal
By Anna Johnson on September 15th, 2008The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) – the peak body representing corporate advertisers – has formally opposed Yahoo’s plan to outsource some of its search ads to Google.
The ANA, which represents the interests of approximately 400 major advertisers, believes, “The partnership will likely diminish competition, increase concentration of market power, limit choices currently available and potentially raise prices to advertisers for high quality, affordable search advertising.”
The ANA has voiced its opposition in a letter to Thomas Barnett, assistant attorney general of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Meanwhile, indications are that Yahoo and Google believe the deal will raise prices for advertisers. Writing in The ClickZ Network, Zachary Rodgers points out that Yahoo President Sue Decker’s statement that the deal will help Yahoo “deliver financial value to stockholders from search monetization” can only be based on an expectation that better monetization means more expensive keywords.
Regardless of the ANA’s concerns, it’s not clear that the Department of Justice will prevent the deal from going ahead. As Mr Rodgers points out, given Yahoo’s poor financial health, “the matter may boil down to whether regulators decide Yahoo’s continued health is more important than keeping costs low for Internet advertisers.”
