Now that a Yahoo acquisition is off the table, Microsoft is moving quickly to "fix" its online branding problem, an executive said Tuesday.

Microsoft has been criticized for the introduction of the Live brand, particularly because it didn't fully replace the MSN brand. That has created some confusion in the market because some services from Microsoft, like Hotmail and Messenger, have both brands, and it's difficult to determine if there is a difference between the differently branded services.

Now that Microsoft has pulled its acquisition bid for Yahoo, it plans to focus on solving its branding problem, said Kevin Johnson, president of Microsoft's platform and services division, speaking in Seattle on Tuesday at the Search Marketing Expo conference.

"When we made the bid for Yahoo, the full combination of those companies would have created a whole different set of brand opportunities for our marketing teams to solve," he said. "Since we've moved forward in not pursing a full combination at this time, our marketing teams are liberated to go solve that brand problem."