Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft, three major tech firms that have traditionally competed for digital advertising revenue, have created an unusual partnership in which they will sell ads for one another.
The move represents an effort to challenge Google, which dominates the search advertising market and has increased its efforts in display advertising.
The plan was discussed at a private meeting in Manhattan among officials from the three companies and executives from the advertising industry, according to an agency executive who attended but who would speak only anonymously because the meeting was private. AOL, Yahoo and Microsoft declined to comment.
The companies also hope to entice other online publishers to join their partnership. And by joining together and selling for one another, they hope to reduce the need for third-party ad networks that often sell some of the less desirable ad space on their sites.
The plan was first reported on Wednesday morning on AllThingsD, the technology website. The report said the deal was focused on selling remnant inventory, or the lower-priced ads that typically run at the bottom of web pages or on secondary pages.
Remnant ads are generally sold by third-party networks, usually for lower prices.