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Yahoo! and Microsoft to Implement Search Alliance

admin — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 19:19:53 +0000

SUNNYVALE, CA and REDMOND, WA – 18 February 2010 – Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) and Yahoo! (Nasdaq “YHOO”) announced today that they have received clearance for their search agreement, without restrictions, from both the U.S. Department of Justice and the European Commission, and will now turn their attention to beginning the process of implementing the deal.

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.

“This breakthrough search alliance means Yahoo! can focus even more on our own innovative search experience,” said Yahoo! Chief Executive Officer Carol Bartz. “Yahoo! gets to do what we do best: combine our science and technology with compelling content to build personally relevant online experiences for our users and customers.”

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer concurred with Bartz’s assessment. “Although we are just at the beginning of this process, we have reached an exciting milestone,” Ballmer said. “I believe that together, Microsoft and Yahoo! will promote more choice, better value and greater innovation to our customers as well as to advertisers and publishers.”

Consumer Search Experience

Under terms of the agreement, which was announced in late July 2009, Microsoft will provide Yahoo! with the same search result listings available through Bing, and Yahoo! will innovate around those listings by integrating rich Yahoo! content, enhanced listings with conveniently organized information about key topics, and tools to tailor the experience for Yahoo! users.

Yahoo! will focus on providing a compelling and innovative search experience that allows people to find and explore the things, people and sites that matter most to them. While Microsoft will provide the underlying platform, both companies will continue to create different, compelling and evolving experiences, competing for audience, engagement and clicks.

Transition Timeline

Yahoo! and Microsoft will work with advertisers, publishers and developers on a customized plan designed to make the transition as efficient and seamless as possible. Both companies will begin working closely with most partners well in advance of their planned transition to the Microsoft platform and will communicate important information to partners about the transition periodically via phone, email, webinars and a newly created website at www.searchalliance.com.

The companies will begin the transition of algorithmic search and have set a goal of completing that effort in at least the United States by the end of 2010. The companies also hope to make significant progress transitioning U.S. advertisers and publishers prior to the 2010 holiday season, but may wait until 2011 if they determine that the transition will be more effective after the holiday season. All global customers and partners are expected to be transitioned by early 2012.

Customer Relationships

Once the transition is in place, Yahoo! and Microsoft will each represent and provide customer support to different advertiser segments. Yahoo!’s sales team will exclusively represent and support high volume advertisers, SEO and SEM agencies, and resellers and their clients. Microsoft will represent and support self-service advertisers.

Regulatory Summary

Although the transaction previously was cleared by regulators in Australia, Brazil and Canada, the terms of the agreement required clearance by U.S. and European regulators before it could commence. Meanwhile, Microsoft and Yahoo! continue to work with regulators in Korea, Taiwan, and Japan to ensure that they have all relevant information necessary to evaluate the transaction before the deal commences in those specific jurisdictions.

About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass on Microsoft’s corporate information pages. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed athttp://www.microsoft.com/presspass/contactpr.mspx.

About Yahoo!
Yahoo! attracts hundreds of millions of users every month through its innovative technology and engaging content and services, making it one of the most trafficked Internet destinations and a world-class online media company. Yahoo!’s vision is to be the center of people’s online lives by delivering personally relevant, meaningful Internet experiences. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more information, visit pressroom.yahoo.com or the company’s blog, Yodel Anecdotal (yodel.yahoo.com).

This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning risks and uncertainties with respect to Yahoo!’s search agreement with Microsoft. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, the expected benefits of the agreement with Microsoft may not be realized, and the response or acceptance of the agreement by publishers, advertisers, users, and employees and Yahoo!’s strategic and business partners.

Yahoo! is the trademark and/or registered trademark of Yahoo! Inc. All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

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Bing continues to grow, making it more important for SEO

kathryn — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:47:08 +0000

It appears that Microsoft continues to make a case for companies to factor Bing into their search engine optimization (SEO) strategy after the company saw its search engine market share in the U.S. increase in August.

According to comScore, Microsoft sites saw their share of searches increase 0.4 percentage points to 9.3 percent in August. Meanwhile, Google saw its share of the market dip slightly with a 0.1 point drop to 64.6 percent.

New search engine news – MSN, Twitter

kathryn — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:51:09 +0000

Microsoft Bing Search Engine Launches Early

Microsoft launched its new search engine, Bing, a few days earlier than expected. The search engine is designed to give users a more granular experience, allowing them to not only hunt for general information, but also conduct specialized searches for travel and shopping. Microsoft hopes that Bing will allow it to claim more market share in the competitive search-engine arena, which is dominated by Google. More from eWeek.

Twitter search engine Topsy launches with $15M

Topsy.com, launched last week, is a brand new search engine focused exclusively on Twitter content. Like Google, it presents its results based on popularity metrics, namely the popularity or influence of the tweeter in question — a factor determined by how many followers the user has and how many time his or her messages have been re-tweeted. More from Venture Beat.

Apparently the way Topsy works, is that a search is queued and results are brought forth, mainly to links posted in Twitter by users. A search on “Outer Banks”, for example, yields results from the Twitter accounts of various regional news stations and newspapers, plus a few OBX real estate companies. It doesn’t appear to be as thorough as Google as far as relevant information is concerned, but in terms of popularity via Twitter this is where people are going.

How can Topsy work to the advantage of somebody in SEO? As you search Topsy, the results will pull up a list of Twitter users who have recently “tweeted” most often on the topic. This will give you a good idea on which Twitter users may be followed (or may be inclined to follow you back). Users of Topsy will be more inclined to find your information online the more you “tweet” using relevant key phrases.

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Is another search engine necessary?

kathryn — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:54:35 +0000

I recall clearly as a child my front row seat to the great fast food wars of the early 80s. Television commercials for the major chains had turned aggressive, charging competitors with serving inferior sandwiches and sides. For years all you heard and saw was McDonald’s versus Burger King versus Wendy’s – duking it out for the title of top burger joint as though competing for a coveted Highlander spot.

There can be only one? Well, as time told the three chains survived and you still see them all over the place. Of course, now they have to contend with the Taco Bells and Subways, adjusting their menus for healthier options as we suddenly realize our obesity caused in part by eating at these places.

What does this have to do with SEO? If you think about it, the competition between Google and Yahoo and MSN isn’t that much different. Three large companies, vying for your attention, and making adjustments where necessary to keep you coming back. Who delivers the most beef here? Many will argue Google – it’s name has become synonymous with search. In conversation people will mention if they want something on the Internet they’ll “Google” for it. Nobody ever “Yahoos” anything. Over the years Google has acquired major innovations in web technology, including Blogger, Youtube, and Feedburner, and perhaps may add a Twitter feather to its cap. Internet users can send e-mail with Google Mail, write papers with Google Docs, hunt down an address on Google Maps, and research with Google Book Search.

Yahoo, hardly a slouch in the industry, provides users with a useful portal for news, weather, classifieds and site search. You’ll find a similar setup at MSN, which makes me wonder why MSN continues with the plan to launch a search engine.

Is another major search engine necessary now? True, the competition gives users more options, but one who knows his Internet history understands that the Microsoft Network hasn’t been able to knock the two big dogs off the porch. Will Kumo make a dent in Google’s usership? Preview articles suggest a blended search model, which would be beneficial for sites optimized to attract users through audio and video in addition to static site content. We will truly see for ourselves in the next month or so when Kumo launches, and those of us in the SEO business will look to see how to optimize for it search. After all, a referral is a referral and the more the better. But as to whether Kumo will deliver the beef remains to be seen.

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