The Microsoft – Yahoo! Deal
So, after many, many years of rumour and speculation Microsoft and Yahoo! have finally bashed out a deal. Here are the most salient points that I’ve seen:
- 10 year agreement
- Microsoft gets exclusive license to Yahoo’s search technologies and will be able to integrate those technologies into their own engine (currently Bing)
- Microsoft’s search and paid-search will power all of Yahoo’s sites
- Self-serve advertising will be powered by Microsoft’s AdCenter
- Yahoo! will be the “exclusive worldwide relationship sales force” for premium advertisers
- Consumer data sharing will be limited to “the minimum necessary to operate and improve the combined search platform, and restricts the use of search data shared between the companies”
In my view this agreement will be bad for the end user. Instead of having one giant engine with two keen, innovating competitors both pursuing different approaches to satisfying the needs of searchers; we have one giant engine and one competitor driven by one team. The deal has reduced competition in the top-tier of search from three to two and thus gives the end-user less choice.
Time will tell whether this deal actually benefits Google, the deal must first pass regulatory review and is expected to take two years to fully implement.
Will my nay-saying prove incorrect? Come back in two years time and we shall see. Do you have a point of view to share? Tell us in the comments.