The long-rumored search deal between Yahoo and Microsoft has been finally confirmed and announced in a press release. In a nutshell, Microsoft will be the exclusive search provider for Yahoo!, thereby eliminating the old Yahoo! Search altogether, while Yahoo will become the exclusive worldwide relationship sales agent for both companies' premium search advertisers.
The contract will be valid for ten (10) years. Under the agreement, Yahoo is granting Microsoft the right to access and integrate Yahoo!search technologies to the latter's existing web search platform, while Bing will be the exclusive search platform for all Yahoo sites. In return, Microsoft will pay Yahoo traffic acquisition costs for the use of existing Yahoo! websites. Note that both companies will still retain their own display advertising services. The companies are expecting the agreement to pass through regulatory review by early 2010.
I find it as an interesting development in the field of web search. In a landscape where 70 percent is controlled by only one company (i.e. Google), it is imperative that the two next-largest search engines team up to become a bigger foe to the Big G. Competition is always welcome in an open market. It introduces innovation among the competitors, which, in the end, turns out to be beneficial for the consumers. Nobody will be able to control the future direction of the industry.
I am excited to find out what radical ideas this new partnership will introduce. I am also excited with what Google is planning to introduce as response (assuming they will). What will be the fate of search? Will it drastically change the way webmasters practice SEO? These are just some of the thought-provoking question that every Web-savvy person, including freelancers, is probably asking right now.
Check out this article from TechCrunch to view the entire press release about the search deal.
