Google and Yahoo Partnership
Google and Yahoo Partnership
As the saga continues as to the fate of Yahoo continues, the ageing father of paid search makes a last ditch effort to maintain independence. After the offer to Microsoft of a partial buy out was rejected, Yahoo turns to their own hang man for assistance.
A partnership between Google and Yahoo, to serve Google sponsored link ads on Yahoo properties has been set up to run over the next 3 years. Not only is Yahoo clinging to those who put them in this position, but they hoping to latch on for the next 10 years at least, forming a long lasting agreement.
While the deal in theory could create up to $800 million dollars in revenue for Yahoo, their future is far from set. Back in March a trial of Google ads on Yahoo properties set competition regulators astir, this longer agreement could be seen as counter competitive and be vetoed by the regulators.
By surrendering this battle to the mighty Google (after all Microsoft did not win!), Yahoo are hopping to stay above water long enough to win the war. The next battle field will be mobile search and all lines are already set.
Yahoo have some strong partnerships with mobile providers and Google are drawing users in with the android platform. If there is only room for 2 search marketing providers, perhaps it will be Microsoft who loose out resting on their laurels expecting users to stick with windows and carry that across on to the browsing habits. It hasn’t worked so far and I don’t expect it to change in the future.
