YAhoOL!?

Since having worked at AOL Canada as a search engine optimization specialist for over a year before I joined another company earlier this year, I find the report at SearchengineLand about Yahoo! and AOL closing in on a deal that would combine the two corporations intriguing.

Although this rumour has been floating around for a few months already, I still believe this would really send shockwaves in the offices if it indeed comes true. To make this matter more complicated, there’s also an ongoing battle between the board at Yahoo! and Microsoft over the “friendly” hostile takeover offer, as well as the latest partnership between Yahoo! and Google that was announced yesterday. There’s also a Washington Post report about News Corp joining Microsoft for a combined bid for Yahoo! on the other side of the field.

I actually think this isn’t really a bad deal for both portals, as the new combined company would definitely benefit from the combined online ad market shares with the injection of Platform A, particularly Advertising.com into the Yahoo! mix. It’s also a lot easier to integrate AOL’s content, products and technology into Yahoo’s system compared to a Microhoo integration. Many e-biz observers also share the same sentiment as well.
I think we should sit tight and see how this quad love affair between Yahoo!, Microsoft, Google and AOL unfold within a couple of months.