econman - 2:32 pm on Sep 28, 2005 (gmt 0)

If it lasts, having 3 players (G, Y, MSN) in the ad brokerage market will cause the market to change in many ways; hard to predict all of the effects, but my hunches/guesses are:

1. cost per click won't grow as rapidly, or will decline slightly as advertisers discover more places to advertise and more ways to avoid bidding wars

2. payout share received by small publishers will increase as the brokers fight for market share

3. at least one of the brokers will impose minimum quality standards for both advertisers (relevance/landing page quality) and publishers, in an effort to create a stronger brand, thereby encouraging a degree of brand loyalty for quality oriented users, advertisers and publishers.