Internet Search / Advertising Industry News: Microsoft, Yahoo Finalize Search Deal

6. December 2009 by admin.

This just in … at channel 7 news (I’m kidding)

http://www.pcworld.com/article/183780/microsoft_yahoo_finalize_search_deal.html?tk=nl_dnx_h_crawl

Microsoft and Yahoo have finalized the terms of a broad search and advertising agreement intended to help them compete more effectively with Google.

The companies announced the agreement, which Microsoft’s Bing search engine would power Yahoo’s search results, and Yahoo would provide premium search-advertising services for both companies, in July.

They had hoped to finalize the deal in late October but needed more time to work out the details.

In a statement on Friday, the companies said they hope that the transaction will close in early 2010 and that they welcome the broad support the deal has gotten from key players in the advertising industry.

“Microsoft and Yahoo believe that this deal will create a sustainable and more compelling alternative in search that can provide consumers, advertisers and publishers real choice, better value, and more innovation,” the partners said.

In October, four ad executives and the president of the American Association of Advertising Agencies sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice in support of the agreement. The DOJ is still reviewing the deal for possible antitrust concerns.

The agreement was nearly a year-and-a-half in the making, during which time Yahoo rejected acquisition offers from Microsoft. The stated goal of the arrangement is to offer stronger search competition to Google, which has about 70 percent market share. Combined, Microsoft and Yahoo make up most of the rest.

(credit PC World for this breaking story)

* Commentary … So what does this mean to the guy on the street? Or the guy on a boat? (I work a lot for marine) - Both Google and Yahoo have been well accepted by lots of people, there will be some concern over Microsoft gaining any kind of control over search engines besides their own BING, which is relatively new as well. Nothing’s wrong with new as far as I can tell, except for the resistance factor of end-users often wanting to delay from deploying anything new until it has been proven or tested to be reasonably satisfactory for general use. This is even more important for Sail and Motor Yacht customers as they have to sail or motor away from much of the amenities that we all take for grant it. But this particular change will be less involving or less important to the yachting community because it doesn’t really change anything about the way the do business or use the Internet in general. It doesn’t break any laptops or computers nor does it break the all important Navigation PC.

It changes only market share dynamics in the search engine and advertising industry. Which may or may not affect us all.

You still get to make your choice and use what you like. Hopefully they don’t find a way to take that way from us (?)

I personally like google.com for my search at present. I do like Yahoo for certain things like Yahoo Groups and Yahoo Chat - which a lot of friend and affiliates use. So I’m not going to play one Giant against the other. I do have certain mindset which like to have things “compartmentalized” … in other words I’d rather have 5 or 10 gadgets that do 1 or a few things good, than 1 gadget that does 100+ things poorly. That might be an old Unix axiom but I don’t care. I like the idea. I like my cell phone to make GOOD phone calls, if it takes good pictures as well, then that’s a worthwhile add-on gadget, but as far as Internet web surfing I don’t need my cell phone to do all of that.

I think your search engine, that you use, every day, will still be a person decision. And you know what’s going to mess them all up? What we use a combination of all of the good ones and see what the hell happens. I do that now.

Mostly I think this is about them trying to corner market share, and trying to make more big bucks for big corporations. But that sheite isn’t putting any more money into my small business at all. So I wish them luck, all of them, Google, MicroSquish, and Yahooooooo hooooooo!

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Alan Spicer

http://www.marinetelecom.net et al.

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