Agreement between Microsoft and Yahoo approved

Agreement between Microsoft and Yahoo approved

Microsoft and Yahoo announced today that they have received authorization from the European Commission and the US Department of Justice to conclude the agreement to share search technology and online advertising revenue.

The agreement – which aims to combat Google’s hegemony – was announced in July and provides that, over the next 10 years, Yahoo will make use of Microsoft’s search technology (supported on Bing) and, in return, be responsible for the sale. of advertising associated with search.

According to information released by the international press, the companies’ search engines maintain their brand image, but Yahoo will now display the message «powered by Bing» next to the search results.

Under the terms of this partnership, Microsoft will deliver to Yahoo 88 percent of the advertising revenue resulting from searches on Yahoo sites.

The companies also said that they will start implementing the partnership «during the next few days» and that they hope to have finished the process by the end of 2010, in the USA, and in late 2012, in the rest of the world. Previously, they had already mentioned that users in the United States would begin to see changes resulting from the agreement about three months after its approval by the entities that regulate the market.

In an official statement, the European Commission states that no negative effects are expected for free competition resulting from the agreement, not least because the combined market shares of the two companies in online advertising are usually below 10 percent, when Google’s exceeds usually 90 percent.