微软Yahoo全面达成交易 - Bing将接手Yahoo搜索业务

Win7之家（ www.win7china.com）：微软Yahoo全面达成交易 - Bing将接手Yahoo搜索业务

软媒：国内时间周三下午或者周四就应该大面积的舆论消息和评论了，微软Bing在美国市场的份额将因此从8%跃升25%+，Google在围剿微软操作系统和浏览器的同时，显然，微软展开了反击。

根据彭博报导，AdAge未引述消息来源表示，微软 (Microsoft US-MSFT)与雅虎 (Yahoo！US-YHOO)已达成线上搜索与广告方面的交易，雅虎将退出搜索技术事业。报导表示，雅虎将以微软的Bing.com（中文名：必应）作 为其预设的搜寻引擎。

预计此消息将于美国时间周三发布，根据协议，两家公司将共享搜索广告有关的收入。雅虎同意在其网站上使用Bing搜索引擎，与此同时，雅虎可在两家网站上投放在线广告。

Microsoft, Yahoo search deal imminent: reports

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The long-anticipated search and advertising partnership between Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. is imminent, and a related announcement is expected as soon as Wednesday, according to reports published late Tuesday.

The AllThingsD blog reported that under the terms of the proposed deal, the two companies will share related search-advertising revenue, as opposed to having Microsoft /quotes/comstock/15*!msft/quotes/nls/msft (MSFT 23.51, +0.04, +0.17%) simply offer Yahoo /quotes/comstock/15*!yhoo/quotes/nls/yhoo (YHOO 17.39, +0.17, +0.99%) a hefty up-front payment in order to grant it access to Yahoo's search engine. See AllThingsD report on Yahoo-Microsoft deal plan.

In addition, the online edition of The Wall Street Journal reported that the deal will likely involve Yahoo agreeing to use Microsoft's search engine on its sites, while Microsoft would allow Yahoo to handle search advertising sales for both Yahoo sites and some Microsoft sites. See full WSJ.com story on Yahoo-Microsoft deal plan.

A representative from Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Yahoo spokeswoman declined to comment.

Both Microsoft and Yahoo have long been struggling to gain ground on U.S. online search-market leader Google Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!goog/quotes/nls/goog (GOOG 436.68, -3.17, -0.72%)
Microsoft mounted an unsolicited takeover bid for Yahoo last year with the intention of teaming up against Google, though Yahoo proved reluctant to entertain the offer and it was ultimately dropped.

However, Microsoft last year also began publicly floating the idea that it could simply partner with Yahoo on search, as opposed to pursuing a full merger.

Yahoo Chief Executive Carol Bartz, who was appointed in January after her predecessor Jerry Yang was forced to step aside, has joked in public that Microsoft would have to offer a "boatload" of money to make such a deal feasible.

However, more recently Bartz has publicly praised Microsoft's revamped search engine, called Bing, which was unveiled in late May.

Some Yahoo investors and Wall Street analysts covering Yahoo have advocated a search partnership with Microsoft, arguing that handing over control of its search business could save Yahoo money and enable it to focus on the sale of graphical, display advertising -- a market that Google is increasingly interested in.

Bartz has countered such arguments by saying that the user preferences and data culled through Yahoo's search service are invaluable for the company's display advertising.

Early indications are that Bing has helped Microsoft draw in an increased number of search users, though Microsoft remains stuck in third place in terms of U.S. market share.

According to data from ComScore Inc., Microsoft held 8% of the U.S. search market in June, while Yahoo held 20% and Google had 65%.
John Letzing is a MarketWatch reporter based in San Francisco.