Yahoo Signs New Deal for Google-Powered Search Results
A new search deal struck between Yahoo and Google means that Yahoo users will start seeing Google-powered, organic and paid results. Since 2009, Yahoo has been powered by Bing. But a few months ago, Yahoo confirmed that they were testing integrating Google search results as a potential alternative to Bing. This is happening just several months after Mozilla announced a five-year partnership where Yahoo would replace Google as the default search engine for all Firefox users.
According to Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer (former VP of Product Search at Google), the new search agreement with Google is nonexclusive and good for three years. According to the regulatory filing on their latest agreement, Yahoo “Yahoo has discretion to select which search queries to send to Google and is not obligated to send any minimum number of search queries.” The agreement also allows Yahoo to use “any other” search advertising services, including Microsoft or any other third parties.
It’s difficult to tell if Google will eventually push Microsoft out of their existing agreement, but for now it sounds like Yahoo will use a combination of Google and Bing to provide users with the highest quality results. According to Yahoo’s recent Investor Report (which included some weak Q3 results), Microsoft remains a “strong partner.”
Here’s an excerpt from the report:
In October, the Company reached an agreement with Google that provides Yahoo with additional flexibility to choose among suppliers of search results and ads. Google’s offerings complement the search services provided by Microsoft, which remains a strong partner, as well as Yahoo’s own search technologies and ad products.
Here’s what a Microsoft Spokesperson had to say (via TechCrunch):
We remain committed to the Yahoo syndication partnership and will continue to serve the majority of Yahoo traffic as outlined in our contract extension. Yahoo is a valued partner and we look forward to continuing to serve our advertising customers through the Bing Ads marketplace.
The ability to pick and choose from a variety of results is great way for Yahoo increase the value of their search platform. According to recent comScore data (March ’15), Yahoo owns nearly 13 percent of the U.S. search market, which puts them only 7 points behind Bing.
You can also check out the full agreement document below: