I’ve been waiting for a while to write something about the Google/Yahoo! search partnership if only to say that there’s really nothing to see here. After all, it really doesn’t matter if Yahoo! includes AdSense on some of its search properties. Yahoo! is still doing the searching, so what difference does it make who sells the advertising?

So as news leaked out that the companies had come to terms with the U.S. Department of Justice limiting the deal to 25% of Yahoo!’s search revenues and to a deal length of two years, I couldn’t help but wonder who stood to benefit from the revised deal. As Yahoo! hemhorrages executive talent and the company’s revenues remain flat in an industry that continues to grow, it’s clear to me that Yahoo! needs all the help they can get.

There you have it. A meaningless deal rendered even more irrelevant by the passage of time. The media industry is rife with antitrust issues (Hulu, anyone?), advertising networks are par for the course co-opetition, and this is the example the DOJ chooses to make? An ailing digital media property lacking direction and leadership making a deal with the foregone winner in the race.

Next time, I suggest that someone at the DOJ talk to someone at the SEC, get a copy of the latest annual report and think hard before running in circles for the next several months. This is what they mean by “re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic.”