29 July 2009
I have long been a critic of Microsoft and Yahoo in the field of 'online search'. Google monsters both in this market, yet the duo have never managed to resolve their boardroom differences to do the logical and combine forces to take the giant of search on as a more serious challenger.
Well eureka! The deal is finally done. Yahoo will use Microsoft's new search engine Bing on all its websites, and in return Microsoft will hand over the management of all premium search advertisers to Yahoo.
After all this time, it took no cash. Just an exchange of resources that will see their global market share climb to about 30%. Google has 65%.
In Australia, the Yahoo/Microsoft partnership will not even reach 8% on current estimates, as Google controls 92%. But it is a start!