AOL-Yahoo combo wouldn't change much for users

— -- What might a possible AOL-Yahoo combination look like?

Probably not that different than the companies look separately.

Yahoo and AOL are the No. 1 and No. 3 providers of e-mail services in the United States, and closing down one over the other is unlikely to happen, says Ellen Siminoff, chairman of online advertising firm Efficient Frontier. "People would hate having their e-mail addresses changed."

A combined Yahoo/AOL could make their instant-messaging programs interoperable — letting users of Yahoo communicate with AIM users and vice versa, something they can't do now, says Greg Sterling, an analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence.

(Yahoo Messenger and Windows Live Messenger users can communicate now. AOL's AIM opted not to participate.)

Yahoo's and AOL's strengths are in display advertising, says Sterling. "Together, ad reps would have an easier time selling a large audience," he says. "It would give both a big boost." However, Yahoo and AOL combined wouldn't necessarily be stronger than a Microsoft-backed Yahoo.

AOL and Yahoo "are shells of their former selves," says Chris Winfield, president of New York-based 10e20, which helps companies with their search-advertising campaigns. "I don't see how combining them makes either stronger."

Should Microsoft prevail in its pursuit of Yahoo, it might have a new partner as well: News Corp.'s MySpace, according to a report in The New York Times, which cited an unnamed source. USA TODAY could not confirm the report. Microsoft and News Corp. declined comment.

MySpace has a rich $900 million deal for Google to provide search ads on its site. Put MySpace with Microsoft and say goodbye to the Google deal, says Winfield.