(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — In what they hope will take them a step closer to wrestling search engine market share from Google (www.google.com), Yahoo! (www.yahoo.com) and Microsoft (www.microsoft.com) have received clearance for their search agreement from both the US Department of Justice and the European Commission.
According to the Thursday announcement, both governing bodies let the partnership pass without restrictions, and both companies will now turn their attention to implementing the deal, which is expected to begin in the coming days. Yahoo!’s algorithmic and paid search platforms will have to be transitioned to Microsoft. Yahoo!, in turn, will becoming the exclusive relationship sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers globally.
Once completed, the companies’ unified search marketplace will offer consumers an improved search experience, advertisers will see better volume and efficiency, and web publishers will be offered better monetization opportunities.
“This breakthrough search alliance means Yahoo! can focus even more on our own innovative search experience,” Yahoo! chief executive officer Carol Bartz said in a statement. “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 agreed with Bartz’s, adding that there is much work to be done to create a competitive search service. “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.”
The companies hope to incorporate Yahoo’s algorithmic search into a usable offering at least in the US by the end of the year. They also hope to make significant progress transitioning US advertisers and publishers prior to the 2010 holiday season, however, they may wait until 2011 if it seems that the transition will be more effective after the holiday season. Either way, all global customers and partners are expected to be transitioned by early 2012.
The transaction was previously cleared by regulators in Australia, Brazil and Canada, however, the terms of the agreement required clearance by US and European regulators before commencing work. Meanwhile, Microsoft and Yahoo! are continuing to work with regulators in Korea, Taiwan, and Japan to ensure that they have all relevant information necessary to evaluate the transaction before work commences there.
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