Yahoo-Google Ad Partnership Comes Under Fire

(NewsVisual, powered by IntellectSpace) -- Yahoo Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) may only get so far in their partnership, as Congress entered the picture to find out if the deal, an attempt at fending of Microsoft Corp's (NASDAQ: MSFT) takeover plans, carries significant antitrust risk.

Executives from all three companies testified before the Senate and House Judiciary Committees yesterday. The deal proposed by Yahoo and Google would have some of Google's ads displayed on Yahoo's website, with Microsoft arguing that the move would unfairly limit competition and raise online ad prices (see article from The Associated Press).

Yahoo has placed a great deal of faith in its partnership with Google as a means of avoiding Microsoft's advances. If lawmakers rule against the deal, Yahoo will once again be vulnerable to Microsoft.

An IntellectSpace Knowledge Map illustrating the executive connections shared by Google and Yahoo reveal one way in which the companies may have formed their alliance.

Yahoo Chairman/CEO Jerry Yang and Google Director John L Hennessy are shown to be closely linked, as both are currently Directors at Cisco. In another set of current common connections, Yahoo President Susan L Decker is a Director at Intel, where Google Director Paul S Otellini is the CEO and President. Decker was also previously a Director at Pixar around the same time as Ann Mather (Director of Google), who was previously the film animation company’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

Each company clearly has underlying motives for supporting or rejecting the Yahoo-Google deal, a fact that lawmakers likely recognize. Despite Yahoo and Google's strong links, if the partnership is found to promote antitrust activity, Microsoft could very soon get the deal it was originally after with Yahoo.

Comments

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