(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — European Union antitrust regulators have been engaged in informal discussions with Microsoft (www.microsoft.com) and Yahoo (www.yahoo.com) regarding their search engine partnership, according to multiple reports which cite a source familiar with the situation.
So far, it is too premature to see if European Union executive will lead to a formal talk, say antitrust experts.
The informal talks appear to be a good sign that the search engine could advance, since regulators could have started with a formal discussion.
Microsoft has confirmed the ongoing discussions and “remain hopeful the deal will close in early 2010.”
In July, the companies signed a 10-year Web search agreement in attempt to compete against Google, which had 67.5 percent share of the worldwide search market at the time.
Microsoft and Yahoo currently hold the number two and three positions, respectively, in the search engine market.
Combined, the two companies would account for about 30 percent of the US search market, giving marketers a greater incentive to invest in reaching their combined audience.
Meanwhile, US antitrust authorities requested more documents from the companies last week. Both Microsoft and Yahoo have said they do not anticipate the review to be done until early 2010.
Whether the deal needs to be approved from the EU or from national regulators in EU countries remains to be seen.
Microsoft has said that it is confident the company can convince EU regulators that a strong competitor against Google is best for the search engine market.
