The Pontiflex CPL Blog

So the Microsoft Yahoo! saga seems to have more twists and turns than a scenic highway.

For more insight into recent development read an email from Kevin Johnson, President Microsoft Platforms & Services Division that explains Microsoft’s online ad strategy in an employee email.

While bullet point number two (Innovate and disrupt in search) evokes the universal facial gesture for “I could have told you that,” bullet point number one is very illuminating: Consolidate ad platform and win in display.

Unlike Yahoo’s moves to consolidate display advertising under AMP, a media planner wanting to work with Microsoft has to deal with the MSN Network, DrivePM (via aQuantive), MSN Direct Response, AdECN, not to mention relationships with sites like Digg and Facebook.

Media planners and buyers are rational human beings are starved for time and will naturally gravitate towards vendors that offer them a single point of campaign connection and management.