Google's Girth Boosts Yahoo!

Given the $1 billion lawsuit Viacom has filed against Google and the acrimonious exchanges between the two companies, a deal seems out of the question. Viacom, in the interim, is striving to make the most of its popular online Web destinations.

The company, which bills itself as "the No. 1 online entertainment destination and the 11th most-popular overall destination on the Web," in February alone claimed 90 million unique visitors to its Web sites.

Choosing Yahoo!

With its hefty audience, Viacom is reportedly hoping to bring in $500 million in revenue attributable to its digital efforts for the year. While products ranging from video to mobile advertising will contribute to this, putting click-through ads on its popular Web properties is an obvious step toward that goal. According to Post's estimates, the Yahoo! deal should bring in $136 million.

Still, Viacom will likely be leaving money on the table compared with what it could have earned had it gone with Google. While click-through rates may be improving thanks to Panama, Yahoo!'s still lag behind Google's. Bids for keywords tend to be higher on Google's ad network as well.

But with Google out of the picture, Yahoo! becomes the next-best alternative. Microsoft's(MSFT Quote) MSN engine, the other big option, packs even less punch than Yahoo!.

Additionally, Viacom, though wary of Google encroaching on its turf, isn't the only company hoping to take advantage of the growing power and reach of Internet search engines. eBay(EBAY Quote), for example, may find itself in the same conundrum.