Yahoo!, Microsoft, AOL in ad deal

Yahoo!, Microsoft and AOL unveiled a joint advertising agreement on Tuesday designed to take on Internet giant Google. The deal will allow the ad networks operated by the three companies to offer some of their display advertising inventory to their respective customers. "The partnership should enhance the demand for and value of each party's display advertising offerings as well as provide better yield for both participating publishers and advertisers," the companies said in a statement. Google has been taking an increasing share of the lucrative and growing display advertising market, according to research firm eMarketer, and Yahoo!, Microsoft and AOL have all lost share. Google makes most of its money from advertising tied to Internet search but has been gaining a larger share of the revenue from online display advertising, which includes rich media, digital video and banner ads. Yahoo!, Microsoft and AOL said their agreement "should dramatically improve the process of buying and selling premium online display inventory." "This should reduce friction in the marketplace, which will benefit both advertisers and publishers," said Ned Brody, AOL's chief revenue officer. Ross Levinsohn, Yahoo!'s executive vice president for the Americas, said the partnership will lead to "a more efficient, effective and more effortless way to access true premium inventory." According to eMarketer, Yahoo!'s share of the US display ad market is expected to fall to 13.1 percent this year from 14.4 percent last year while Microsoft's share will decline to 4.9 percent from 5.1 percent. AOL's share is expected to fall to 4.2 percent this year from 4.8 percent in 2010, it said. Google's share of overall US display ad revenue will grow to 9.3 percent this year from 8.6 percent last year, eMarketer said. Facebook, meanwhile, will see its share of US online display ad revenue grow to 17.7 percent this year from 12.2 percent last year, according to eMarketer.