Wow...
Microsoft buys Aquantive for $6B. Google buys Doubleclick for $3.1B. Yahoo buys right media for $680 Mil. And WPP buys 24/7 for $649 Mil.
The most interesting of those deals is, in my mind, WPP. The multinational advertising conglomerate is not sitting on the sidelines watch thing parade go by.
The other interesting thing is that while all are functionally advertising networks, it's the server technology the is the crux of each. Eyeballs.
Online advertising is about to change to become that much more visual a medium. I've said it before and I'm standing by it.
And if I were a betting man, I'd put bets on Yahoo, on analytics companies and on video companies.
From a search perspective, the most rudimentary of all is video. Think Altavista or AOL circa 1999.
Play to the lowest common denominator and that's where the easy wins are.
With a one day 78% rise on AQNT this market is only beginning to heat up. But it has to leave ValueClick feeling a little like Anastasia right about now. (Left out in the cold.) Altho their 7% rise on the Microsoft news has to be a nice lift.
Have a good one.
~The (SEP) Guy