Microsoft doesn’t need Yahoo in whole or in part to bolster its ad business, or so Yusuf Mehdi, its chief advertising strategist, told investors and analysts at the Goldman Sachs Internet Conference in Las Vegas. Last week, Microsoft agreed to buy aQuantive for $6 billion, an 85 percent premium. Asked if Microsoft also needed Yahoo, Bloomberg News reports Mehdi replied: “‘Yahoo has a great business, they have a great audience asset. Kudos to them in terms of the users and reach they’ve got. From where we are today, we think we have all of the pieces.” Well, maybe not all. It sounds like some much smaller deals might yet happen. Mehdi: “There are other small pieces that we’re in the process of getting to as well, organically or otherwise.’”

SEE ALSO: Microsoft Buys Online Ad Shop aQuantive For $6 Billion

I’d like to say this drives a stake in the heart of the MSFT-YHOO merger mania but too many people want to see that deal haoppen for that to be enough.