Why Google is prime target for Microsoft and Yahoo

Key differences in the revenue generation of online marketing services show why Google is the player to stop for Microsoft and Yahoo... probably not only for them as marketing budgets are gradually being reallocated to better cover interactive online and on-demand channels and practices.

clipped from www.fool.com Microsoft Must Kill Google, Now Marketing revenues at Yahoo! inched 13% higher to $1.5 billion. What's troubling is that while ad money from Yahoo!'s own websites climbed 24% higher to $922 million, the company's fledgling collection of third-party sites that regurgitate Yahoo! ads posted a 1% decrease in revenues to $622 million. Microsoft's online-services revenues climbed to $671 million, but $80 million of that came from the aQuantive acquisition that closed during the period. Ad revenues would have climbed just 25% higher before factoring in that $6 billion deal. That's still respectable, although a major downer is that the company posted an operating loss of $264 million in this division. Google put up a whopping $4.2 billion in site-related revenues for the quarter, up 57% over the prior year. That impressive figure is the result of a 65% surge on its own sites to $2.7 billion and a 40% increase through its network third-party sites to $1.5 billion.