The highly publicized battle for AOL's content network and associated advertising revenue was more than just a contest to see who had the biggest… well, bankroll. Ninety-nine percent of Google's revenue comes from its own ad listings, but product diversity holds the keys to Wall Street analysis and subsequent shareholder happiness.

Ultimately Google won the battle, and advertising history was made. So where does that leave number two? In a much better position, thank you. While analysts were quick to point out that Yahoo lost, it looks like Yahoo won from the forward-looking ad model and in-house resource perspective.

Instead of having to share revenue with another portal and expend resources to avoid content conflicts, Yahoo can focus its efforts on expanding areas of influence in creating sticky content areas.

Yahoo is at war with other content providers for audience share. When in battle, close air support is offered to ground troops, and the speed at which that support arrives is critical. Speed is often determined by how much time an aircraft can loiter over the battleground so it can turn on the guns and arrive on the scene to save the day.

Yahoo is loitering over the battleground with its arsenal of product offerings and rich-content destinations. Yahoo is not just a search engine, it's a personal finance provider, an answer engine, a sports and leisure destination and a place to find a new job or employee. Yahoo needs only turn and train its weapons on the target.