29 July 2009 | Author: Katie Todd

Microsoft and Yahoo! expected to confirm partnership asap

When you think about it, it's kind of been like a long-running sitcom romance. After years of 'will they? Won't they?' speculations surrounding the collaboration of Yahoo! with either software giant Microsoft or search megalith Google, it seems that the Sunnyvale search company has finally made its choice - to join forces with Microsoft and take on the big guy.

According to reports from PC World, the Wall Street Journal and various blogs and tweets the world over, Microsoft and Yahoo! have finally agreed to become partners. We're still waiting for an official announcement from either company, but widespread rumours tend to come before the truth - so it's looking fairly likely that the buzz is sound.

So what would this deal mean for Google? Well, sources are stating that the collaboration is on an online search and advertising deal which, essentially, is Google's main playing field. And, despite Yahoo!'s relatively diminutive impact on the search sphere - well, compared to Google, anyway - it can't be ignored that it's still one of the biggest search engines around. What with Microsoft's new foray into the world of search brought in the form of innovative decision engine Bing, the time may have come when the rumoured collaboration finally has a product that can compete.

According to PC World's report, the deal could see Yahoo! switching to Bing for its search offerings, but would retain a bulk of power when it comes to search advertising. The Sunnyvale search engine would handle advertising sales - the text-based ads that show up together with search results.

This is certainly something Yahoo! may prefer over previous bids by both Microsoft and Google to simply take over the smaller search agency. With this strategy, Yahoo! retains its autonomy whilst benefiting from collaborating with a larger company and upping its game when it comes to competing with its main rivals - whilst eliminating the competition with Microsoft and turning it into a camaraderie instead.

It's undoubted that such a move would impact current search king Google - and it's possible that the Mountain View agency is already thinking up its parry to the attack. We'll have to wait and see what they have in store - but there's no doubt that it'll be yet another exciting instalment in the search engine soap opera.

At the time of writing, the deal has still not been officially confirmed - a Yahoo! spokeswoman told new media age: "We don't comment on rumour or speculation" - but stay tuned for further ground breaking search developments.

Home | Careers | RSS | Contact Us | Newsletter

International sites: