Microsoft and Verizon Media have announced an expansion to their alliance today that will see Bing Ads serving Yahoo search ads exclusively in addition to powering all AOL searches. According to the Redmond-based giant, the transition of global traffic is set to complete by the end of March.
Verizon Media (formerly Oath) encompasses Yahoo and AOL, which were combined early in 2017 after Verizon purchased the search engine for $4.83 billion. Microsoft"s partnership with AOL dates back to 2015 when the software company sold off its advertising sales business to the Verizon-owned online service provider.
Kya Sainsbury-Carter, Microsoft"s Vice President of Global Partner Service for Advertising Sales, touts the benefits of the expanded tie-up in a blog post. She wrote:
We estimate that our enhanced partnership could result in an increase in clicks across the Bing Ads marketplace for customers targeting the United States of up to 10-15%. While exact results will vary by client, Bing Ads users should closely monitor their budgets to ensure they are ready to capture these potential increases in click volume.
Carter also noted Microsoft"s audience targeting system powered by the Microsoft Graph and artificial intelligence capabilities as an added benefit to customers. The company also vows to approach its advertising business with privacy and security in mind.