Two weeks ago it was revealed that Microsoft and Yahoo were renegotiating the terms of their 10-year search deal.
Speculation arose as to whether the two companies would come to terms and continue the partnership, or terminate the deal and go their separate ways.
Now we have our answer. Microsoft and Yahoo have come to terms on an amended search partnership, which they say will “improve the search experience, create value for advertisers and establish ongoing stability for partners.”
The partnership, originally signed back in 2009, has been amended to allow Yahoo the ability to innovate in its own search business. CEO Marissa Mayer stated in a press release: “This renewed agreement opens up significant opportunities in our partnership that I’m very excited to explore.”
Among these opportunities is the ability for Yahoo to enhance its search experience on any platform, which means it can make changes to its mobile search experience independently of desktop search. Where desktop search is concerned, Yahoo will serve search results and ads from Bing.
Another amendment to the partnership will see Microsoft become the exclusive salesforce for the Bing Ads platform, while Yahoo will continue to be the exclusive salesforce its own Gemini ads platform. The integration of these two teams is expected to help both companies serve advertisers more effectively.
Marisa Mayer spoke more candidly on her own Tumblr blog about this partnership, saying she believes search is still in its infancy, and reaffirms that its still an important focus for Yahoo.
“We firmly believe that search is still in its infancy – and this partnership marks the next chapter in our exploration of how to make search truly great. Search has, and will continue to be, an incredibly important part of Yahoo, and this new partnership represents a major step forward in our renaissance.”
