The Clickable Search Engine Marketing Blog

The new search partnership between Microsoft and Yahoo is an important event in the search marketing industry. We'd like to boil down the facts and provide some early Clickable perspective as this news unfolds.

What Happened?

Microsoft and Yahoo have entered into a deal whereby:

• Microsoft will be the technology provider for all of Yahoo's and Microsoft's search properties.
• Yahoo will become the exclusive worldwide relationship sales force for both companies' premium search advertisers.  (The small and medium sized advertiser get ignored yet once more.)
• Yahoo will keep 88% of revenues earned from the Microsoft-serviced properties.
• The deal will pass regulatory approval in six months and will take at least two years to fully materialize.

Why Is A Deal Important?

Search is valuable because it allows advertiser to reach millions of potential customers in a highly targeted way. Yahoo and Microsoft sometimes fall short, relative to Google, because they don't have enough searchers, leading many advertisers to feel that managing campaigns on their networks doesn't repay the effort. However, a combined effort between Yahoo and Microsoft, could create the critical mass of users that advertisers are looking for -- and, therefore, a more formidable competitor to Google.

Market Implications Of Yahoo-Microsoft Deal?

We believe the deal could create a much stronger competitor to Google.  On the plus side, more serious competition would drive incentive to advance R&D and services for the marketplace, something many advertisers desire. Conversely, fewer competitors create the potential for increased prices inherent in a two-competitor marketplace. In the near-term, this deal creates some uncertainty for advertisers, but it's important to remember that this is a long-term deal. The finer points will work themselves out over many months (if not years).

What does this mean for Clickable and its Customers?

Big changes in the marketplace present ongoing opportunity for Clickable to deliver value to advertisers. More than ever, marketers desire a trusted advisor to drive profitability, simply. Clickable will always figure out what's best for its customers, guaranteeing optimization strategies that capture the dynamic market. Given the long-term nature of this deal, we will not change our priorities for the short term. We will continue to focus on our current product priorities across Pro, Assist and Platform. We'll update our roadmap as the deal materializes, making decisions based on customer needs and input.

What's your take on the Microsoft-Yahoo deal?

Any ideas on how duplicate campaigns/accounts will be handled once Yahoo - MSN campaigns get merged?

Alex,

The high-level nature of the Microsoft-Yahoo deal has just bean announced and we do not yet have any insight into the detailed timelines or impact of the integration of the two search networks.  Given the long-term nature of this deal, Clickable will not change our short term priorities, continuing to focus on areas that deliver the most value to our customers.

We will be highly attuned to any integration developments and will stay ahead of the curve, adjusting our roadmap to ensure that Clickable customers have as seamless a transition as possible.

As always, Clickable is there as your trusted advisor, looking out for our customers’ best interests in the dynamic and evolving search market.

Regards,

Vernon

What's the Lowdown on BING and how does that affect this relationship?   I've only tried Bing a few times and while it didn't work any better than Google usually, sometimes it worked much better for odd query searches, as ask.com sometimes does...

What's the Lowdown on BING and how does that affect this relationship?   I've only tried Bing a few times and while it didn't work any better than Google usually, sometimes it worked much better for odd query searches, as ask.com sometimes does...

If you’ve maximized your search advertising revenues on Google and Yahoo, it's time to expand

With the forthcoming Microsoft-Yahoo partnership , advertisers may be wondering whether Yahoo! still