Aug 25, 2010

Bing Now Powers Yahoo Search

For online marketers, especially B-to-B, Google tends to be the be-all, end-all. The Bing/Yahoo route could lead to great results--budgets allowing. Therein lies the problem--budgets being finite, how much can you risk investing in Bing by taking away from Google? 

Here's the story:

It’s official: Yahoo search is now powered by Microsoft’s Bing, the end result of a deal signed a little over one year ago by the two companies.

That means that combined, Microsoft now owns 28.1% of the search market (as of July 2010’s comScore numbers), though that’s still less than half of Google’s 65.8% share.

The implementation, which has been in testing for about a month, is currently live only in English and only in the U.S. and Canada, with “other languages [to] come in the weeks and months ahead,” according to a statement from Microsoft.

The change might not be immediately apparent to Yahoo users, as the search interface remains essentially the same (and the company has indicated that it will continue to make its own experience enhancements). However, you’ll notice if you look at the status bar in your browser that data is indeed being loaded fromBing.

Another big piece of the deal –- migrating Yahoo search advertisers to Microsoft’s adCenter platform –- is still under development, with Microsoft saying it’s “optimistic about completing this phase later this fall.”


Courtesy of Mashable