gmb45
30th July, 2009, 04:07 AM
Microsoft and Yahoo! have announced a web search deal to rival Google.
The deal gives Microsoft access to the world's second biggest search engine
The agreement ends years of negotiations and gives Microsoft access to the internet's second-largest search engine audience.
It adds a potentially potent weapon to Microsoft's Internet arsenal as the software maker girds for an online assault against Google.
Yahoo is teaming up with Microsoft following years of financial decay.
In the process, Yahoo hopes to recover some of the money that was squandered in 2008 when it turned down a chance to sell the entire company to Microsoft for ?29bn.
Microsoft wants to process more search requests because the inquiries have become a critical lever for selling Internet ads.
Microsoft and Yahoo know there's so much more that search could be. This agreement gives us the scale and resources to create the future of search.
The extended reach will allow Microsoft to introduce its recently upgraded search engine, called Bing, to more people.
The Washington-based software maker believes Bing is just as good, if not better, than Google's search engine.
Taking over the search responsibilities on Yahoo's highly trafficked site gives Microsoft a better chance to convert Web surfers who had been using Google by force of habit.
In return for handing over the keys to its search engine, Yahoo will get to keep 88% of the revenue from all search ad sales on its site for the first five years of the deal.
Yahoo estimated the deal will boost its annual operating profit by ?305m.
Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said: "Microsoft and Yahoo know there's so much more that search could be.
"This agreement gives us the scale and resources to create the future of search."
Analysts hailed the deal as big news.
Tim Beyers, Senior Analyst at The Motley Fool, said: "You feel like this is something they had to do. ... I mean, independently, they're bit players. Together, they might offer a combination that might be appealing to an advertiser."
The deal gives Microsoft access to the world's second biggest search engine
The agreement ends years of negotiations and gives Microsoft access to the internet's second-largest search engine audience.
It adds a potentially potent weapon to Microsoft's Internet arsenal as the software maker girds for an online assault against Google.
Yahoo is teaming up with Microsoft following years of financial decay.
In the process, Yahoo hopes to recover some of the money that was squandered in 2008 when it turned down a chance to sell the entire company to Microsoft for ?29bn.
Microsoft wants to process more search requests because the inquiries have become a critical lever for selling Internet ads.
Microsoft and Yahoo know there's so much more that search could be. This agreement gives us the scale and resources to create the future of search.
The extended reach will allow Microsoft to introduce its recently upgraded search engine, called Bing, to more people.
The Washington-based software maker believes Bing is just as good, if not better, than Google's search engine.
Taking over the search responsibilities on Yahoo's highly trafficked site gives Microsoft a better chance to convert Web surfers who had been using Google by force of habit.
In return for handing over the keys to its search engine, Yahoo will get to keep 88% of the revenue from all search ad sales on its site for the first five years of the deal.
Yahoo estimated the deal will boost its annual operating profit by ?305m.
Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said: "Microsoft and Yahoo know there's so much more that search could be.
"This agreement gives us the scale and resources to create the future of search."
Analysts hailed the deal as big news.
Tim Beyers, Senior Analyst at The Motley Fool, said: "You feel like this is something they had to do. ... I mean, independently, they're bit players. Together, they might offer a combination that might be appealing to an advertiser."