Yahoo!'s rejection of a Microsoft acquisition and partnership with Google could distract the company from its Newspaper Consortium partnership, and leads industry experts to ask if the long awaited ad platform AMP will launch as planned, Editor & Publisher reported Thursday.

More than 40 percent of U.S. daily newspapers, by circulation, have joined with Yahoo!.

Ken Doctor, of Content Bridges, stated that there are two things to take into consideration: “The short-term negative: a confusion about priorities that slows AMP development down,” he wrote, E&P reported.

“The potential longer-term positive: with national and search advertising growth both slowing, maybe local advertising really is the major growth opportunity (Yahoo!'s Executive Vice President of Global Partner Solutions Hilary) Schneider's been touting and new leadership doubles down on it,” Doctor stated, according to E&P.