Microsoft and Yahoo (Finally) Strike a Deal

      by Wyatt Walter

The long, drawn-out game of “Deal or No Deal” between Microsoft and Yahoo! has finally come to an end. It’s been a long time coming, but the number two and three in the search engine market have finally joined forces in their fight against the dominant Google. The deal is not a buyout of Yahoo as past deals have been, but rather a sharing of technology and access to advertisers.

According to a CNN report, Yahoo will be using Microsoft’s search engine Bing underneath the hood to power its search engine while Yahoo will be focused on bringing in advertisers. Microsoft will then be sharing 88% of revenue from Yahoo’s searches and Microsoft will use existing search technology that Yahoo owns to integrate into its own platforms.

Microsoft has long been eyeing Yahoo as a take-over target, but both former CEO Jerry Yang and current CEO Carol Bartz stood against selling the company outright. Bartz reiterated her stance in May that their Yahoo’s search business was for sale for “boatloads” of money.

Yahoo has stated that the deal should increase its operating income by $500 million, allowing it to continue its other ventures without pouring money into search.

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Filed under News : Comments (0) : Jul 29th, 2009