Yahoo! and Microsoft Get Thumbs Up on Search Alliance

Back in July Redmond-based software giant Microsoft announced to the world that it struck a deal with Yahoo! which stated that for the next decade Microsoft would power Yahoo! search as Bing will become the “exclusive algorithmic search and paid search platform for Yahoo! sites.” As Yahoo! explained at the time, the deal would “improve the Web search experience for users and advertisers, and deliver sustained innovation to the industry.”

To put it bluntly, this meant that Yahoo! search will be powered by Microsoft’ Bing decision engine. Exclusive access to Yahoo!’s search technologies, for the next 10 years, will be granted to Microsoft. These technologies will then be integrated with Microsoft’s own search engine, Bing, making Bing “the exclusive algorithmic search and paid search platform for Yahoo! sites.” While Microsoft takes care of search, Yahoo! will focus on making its other services better – at least that’s what Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz said.

Yesterday the two companies announced that the U.S. Dept. of Justice and the European Commission gave them regulatory clearance for the search agreement announced this summer. Microsoft and Yahoo! will now focus on making the transition as efficient and easy as possible, so they are working closely with advertisers, publishers and developers on a customized transition plan.

“Implementation of the deal is expected to begin in the coming days and will involve transitioning Yahoo!’s algorithmic and paid search platforms to Microsoft, with Yahoo! becoming the exclusive relationship sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers globally. Once the transition is completed, the companies’ unified search marketplace will deliver improved innovation for consumers, better volume and efficiency for advertisers and better monetization opportunities for web publishers through a platform that contains a larger pool of search queries,” explained Microsoft in a press statement.

For additional details, Yahoo! and Microsoft have set up an official site for their Search Alliance.