YahooBay to Push Pay Per Call

So the rumors were sorta true - Yahoo and eBay are hooking up. Yahoo gets access to PayPay and Skype, which will be used in a click to call service, as well as placement on an eBay tool bar. Yahoo will deliver the graphical ads to eBay and get part of its search marketing business.

This deal makes more sense than a merger because the companies get to keep their independence and identities while sharing their core technologies. Yahoo gets the better of the deal IMHO as integrating Skype and PayPal wallet into a transaction service that could be completed via Yahoo Messenger, which could be the catalyst that makes micropayments more ubiquitous.

Of course eBay wins too because they will get exposure to Yahoo's massive audience. Wall Street should respond well to this as in combination the companies can promote commerce and advertising better than anyone has to date.

I would expect Microsoft and Google to be aggressive in their responses soon.