At EconAds the final panel of the day took a step back and analyzed a big part of what keeps the ad business thriving, activity in VC and M&A. Inevitably, the Microsoft-Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) possibility became a hot topic and while it became clear there was no one answer, Microsoft’s (NSDQ: MSFT) aQuantive purchase came up; because it doesn’t help the company improve search, it seems it acquired aQuantive simply because it could. Also discussed: what companies should look for when deciding to fund or acquire another and figuring out the best time to sell. Lots more in the full writeup and the embedded 24-minute video. (RSS readers will have to click through.)

SEE ALSO: @ EconAds: Microsoft Still Has M&A Needs; Who Knows If MSFT-YHOO Will Happen?

Speakers:
Bruce Jaffe, Former Corporate VP, Corporate Development, Microsoft
Lance Maerov, SVP, Corporate Development, WPP
Dennis Miller, General Partner, Spark Capital
Dave Morgan, Founder, TACODA
Moderator: Rafat Ali, Founder, Publisher & Co-Editor, ContentNext Media

Other videos from EconAds are here.



Thanks to our EconAdsSponsors: Platinum: IAC. Gold: Wall Street Journal Digital Network, meebo and Rubicon. Silver: Imaginova, Tremor Media and BMO Capital Markets.