Ad agencies and online companies are finally cozying up to each other after years of battle, The New York Times reports.

With even fewer dollars to chase, both industries are beginning to craft new ways to maintain growth. Analysts tell the Times that online companies and ad agencies have no choice but to work together.

"There was an air of inevitability about it, because of the model not really working yet, and there's so much content that will be dependent on it working," Paul Kemp-Robertson, editor of Contagious, an online magazine that tracks digital marketing trends, told the Times.

Microsoft and Google have both inked fresh partnerships with leading ad firms to help improve the ad landscape online.