by Search Copywriter
D. Warburton
D. Warburton
The landmark 10-year search deal between Microsoft and Yahoo! has now been finalised, which will see Bing power Yahoo's search engine in return for Yahoo! selling advertising.The partnership was announced in July, but was reported to be taking longer than expected to come to fruition as the former rivals discussed the finer details of the arrangement.
The Telegraph reports that both companies released a joint statement yesterday, which explained: "Microsoft and Yahoo! believe that this deal will create a sustainable and more compelling alternative in search that can provide consumers, advertisers and publishers real choice, better value, and more innovation."
However, due to the complex nature of the deal and the possible competition concerns it will raise in the search engine market, the deal still cannot be finalised until 2010 as the companies await approval from the US Department of Justice and the European Union.
The statement continued: "Yahoo! and Microsoft welcome the broad support the deal has received from key players in the advertising industry and remain hopeful that the closing of the transaction can occur in early 2010."
If the Microsoft-Yahoo! partnership goes ahead, it could present a significant challenge to Google's continuing dominance of the search engine market. According to the most recent global figures from Net Applications, Google accounts for 85 per cent of all searches carried out worldwide, while Bing and Yahoo! account for 3.3 and 6.22 per cent of searches respectively.
