Joining Forces

By Brad

When it comes to the all-important search, Google still rules the roost. But now things are starting to get interesting. Via Read Write Web:

A few months from now, Yahoo’s search engine will be “powered by Bing.” After months of back and forth between Microsoft and Yahoo, the two companies finally announced a deal today that will bring Microsoft’s search engine to Yahoo’s properties, while Yahoo will become the sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers.

The agreement between Microsoft and Yahoo is for the next 10 years. As for Google’s reaction to the deal, here’s what PC World found out:

The head of Google’s search organization said the search deal announced Wednesday between Microsoft and Yahoo looked likely to be negative for competition and for consumers.

If Yahoo adopts Microsoft’s Bing search engine in place of its own, that will reduce the search market from three major players to two, said Marissa Mayer, Google’s vice president of search and user experience. She said several groups at Google were still studying the proposed partnership, which is expected to close next year, but that it might reduce innovation.

Seems like the search battle is about to heat up again. Stay tuned…