New York Times has reported that Yahoo is planning to buy Right Media, which owns an online advertising marketplace, for $680 mn -
Google and Yahoo each dominate one segment of the online advertising market. Google is best at selling text ads that appear alongside search results and on other websites. Yahoo, which has lagged Google in search, is a leader in selling graphical ads, mostly on its own sites.
With Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick and Yahoo’s acquisition of Right Media, both Google and Yahoo have moved beyond their traditional strengths and are now pitched squarely against each other in the battle to dominate online advertising.
John Battelle, search guru and writer of Search, in conversation with Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO, at Web 2.0 Expo (YouTube video).
They talk about why Google Apps is a threat to Microsoft and Apple, why Google’s DoubleClick deal is scary for advertisers, why YouTube is integral to Google’s plans, why net neutrality is essential for web entrepreneurship, how mobile and local search are the future of Google and how Google is committed to user data privacy and portability.
What stayed with me after watching the video, however, was the contrast between John’s in-your-face flamboyance and Eric’s cautious diplomacy.
Also See: John Battelle and Robert Scoble on why Doubleclick went with Google and not Microsoft.