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Tag: search alliance

  • Bing Sheds Light On Yahoo Click Volume

    Last month, Microsoft and Yahoo announced some changes to their ongoing search and advertising partnership. Under the new terms, Yahoo would gain increased flexibility to enhance its own search experience on any platform. Also as part of the agreement, Microsoft would be the exclusive salesforce for ads delivered by its own Bing Ads platform, and Yahoo would continue to be the exclusive salesforce for its Yahoo Gemini platform.

    Some Bing Ads advertisers have wondered what the amended deal means for Yahoo click volume. Microsoft has been listening.

    “We have heard from many of you, our customers, that there is interest in understanding the actual Yahoo click volume being served through Bing Ads today in relation to the increased flexibility Yahoo received starting May 1st,” says John Cosley from the Bing Ads team.

    “Bing Ads continues today to deliver ad clicks against 99% of Yahoo PC traffic and nearly 90% of Mobile/Tablet traffic,” he adds. “As a result, Yahoo click volume served through Bing Ads remains stable, averaging 99% of Yahoo’s April baseline across all devices in the U.S. The 1% movement is normal and expected. Bing Ads marketplace performance will be subject to small changes, both positive and negative, each week-on-week due to the seasonality of queries.”

    They’ve set up a page where you can better get an understanding of Yahoo click volume changes as time goes on. Cosley says the page will be updated with new data each week.

    Image via Bing

  • Yahoo Could Still Drop Microsoft Soon

    Yahoo Could Still Drop Microsoft Soon

    Last week, Yahoo and Microsoft announced that they have reworked the terms of their search partnership after extending a deadline for coming to new terms. This followed speculation that Yahoo could put an end to the companies’ relationship, as CEO Marissa Mayer’s alleged unhappiness with the deal has been widely reported in the past.

    The companies decided to stay together, but under terms that are largely better for Yahoo, which gets increased flexibility to enhance its own search experience on any platform. The partnership is non-exclusive for both desktop and mobile. Yahoo will continue to serve Bing ads and search results for “most” (51%) of its desktop search traffic, it said, and can do whatever it wants on mobile.

    Additionally, they made some changes to ad sales. Microsoft will be the exclusive salesforce for ads delivered by its own Bing Ads platform, and Yahoo will continue to be the exclusive salesforce for its Yahoo Gemini ads platform.

    This week, Yahoo filed a regulatory document with the SEC (via Reuters), and it lays out the exact changes to the agreement, and it includes a termination clause that would allow Yahoo to bail on Microsoft on or after October 1 if it chooses.

    Here are the changes to the agreement as described in the document:

    Services and Exclusivity

    Previously under the Search Agreement, Microsoft was the exclusive algorithmic and paid search services provider to Yahoo on personal computers for Yahoo’s online properties and services (“Yahoo Properties”) and for search services provided by Yahoo to its distribution network of third party entities who integrate Yahoo’s advertising offerings into their Websites and other offerings (“Affiliate sites”). Microsoft was the non-exclusive provider on mobile devices. Pursuant to the Amendment, Microsoft will provide such services on a non-exclusive basis for Yahoo Properties and Affiliate sites on personal computers. Commencing on May 1, 2015, Yahoo agrees to request paid search results from Microsoft for 51% of its search queries originating from personal computers accessing Yahoo Properties and its Affiliate sites (the “Volume Commitment”) and will display only Microsoft’s paid search results on such search result pages.

    Additionally, Yahoo will now have the ability in response to queries on both personal computers and mobile to request algorithmic listings only, paid listings only or both algorithmic and paid listings from Microsoft. To the extent Yahoo requests algorithmic listings only or requests paid listings but elects not to display such paid listings, Yahoo will pay Microsoft serving costs but not a revenue share. In other cases and with respect to the Volume Commitment, Yahoo will pay Microsoft a revenue share.

    Previously under the Search Agreement, Yahoo had sales exclusivity for Yahoo’s and Microsoft’s premium advertisers. Pursuant to the Amendment, this sales exclusivity will terminate on July 1, 2015. Yahoo and Microsoft will develop a plan to transition premium advertisers for Microsoft’s paid search services to Microsoft commencing on July 1, 2015 and to be completed by January 31, 2016.

    Revenue Share

    Yahoo is entitled to receive a percentage of the revenue (the “Revenue Share Rate”) generated from Microsoft’s services on Yahoo Properties and on Affiliate sites after deduction of the Affiliate sites’ share of revenue and certain Microsoft costs. Under the Search Agreement the Revenue Share Rate was 88% for the first five years and then increased to 90% on February 23, 2015. Pursuant to the Amendment, the Revenue Share Rate will be 93%, but will now apply before deduction of the Affiliate sites’ share of revenue.

    Term and Termination

    The term of the Search Agreement remains 10 years from its commencement date, February 23, 2010, subject to earlier termination as provided in the Search Agreement. Pursuant to the Amendment, on or after October 1, 2015, either Yahoo or Microsoft may terminate the Search Agreement by delivering a written notice of termination to the other party. The Search Agreement will remain in effect for four months from the date of the termination notice to provide for a transition period, however, Yahoo’s Volume Commitment will not apply in the third and fourth months of this transition period.

    So there you have it. If Yahoo, or Microsoft for that matter, doesn’t like how the deal is going under the terms, they’ll be able to call it off sooner rather than later. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Is Yahoo About To Drop Bing?

    Well, here’s another juicy layer to add to the speculation about whether or not Yahoo and Microsoft will soon end their search alliance. Yahoo has reportedly been building its own mobile search engine that it’s currently testing, and that experience removes the “Powered by Bing” stamp that has been attached to Yahoo’s search results since the alliance took effect.

    Should Yahoo drop Bing? Tell us what you think.

    Buisness Insider’s Nicholas Carlson, who had a book about Marissa Mayer and her “fight to save Yahoo,” published earlier this year, got his hands on the test experience, and found that the results don’t say powered by Bing. He reports:

    A couple weeks ago, a person who claims to have been working in Yahoo’s search division until recently told us that, under Mayer, Yahoo built its own mobile search engine. This source that Yahoo was testing it with 15% of its mobile users. We’ve been unable to corroborate all of those details, but — thanks to instructions from that source — we were able to able to load the new version of Yahoo’s mobile search engine.

    While he does acknowledge that none of this proves Yahoo is going to break up with Microsoft and launch its own search engine, and that the results from the test seem to match Bing’s results, he asks why the search results pages have done away with the Bing branding.

    It’s a good question, made all the more interesting by other recent reports. The question of whether or not the two companies will continue their partnership already remains up in the air. They have a decision to reach this month after extending a deadline to reach an agreement by 60 days after February 23. There has already been plenty of speculation since that round of the news cycle, when Reuters reported:

    It was not immediately clear if the extension signaled progress or lack of consensus between Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. The announcement to extend the talks comes a few days after Nadella’s mother passed away in Hyderabad, India, according to a report in The Economic Times.

    Microsoft has had nothing to say about any of this.

    Yahoo said over a week ago, “We value our partnership with Microsoft and continue discussions about plans for the future. We have nothing further to announce at this time.”

    Carlson’s report has a fresher statement from Yahoo, which says, “Search is an important part of Yahoo’s business and we’re always experimenting and looking to improve the experience for our users. We have nothing to announce at this time.”

    Let further speculation commence.

    You have to note that the search alliance was formed when both companies were being run by different people, and that Mayer has reportedly blasted the deal both in public around the office.

    Last year, Kara Swisher (a frequent reporter of Yahoo goings on) reported that Mayer was making a “big push to return the company to the search business”. The report said she was trying to “move Yahoo squarely into competition with both Google and Microsoft in an attempt to regain control over one of its key revenue streams.”

    “To do so, she has ordered up two under-the-radar initiatives that could potentially move the company into algorithmic search, as well as search advertising, again,” Swisher wrote.

    There’s been talk in the media about Google and Yahoo potentially partnering as well. The two have partnered on contextual ads, and Google executive chairman has reportedly said in the past that the company would “love to be a search partner for Yahoo“.

    Google and Yahoo did try to partner before Yahoo and Microsoft partnered, but it never happened due to the threat of regulatory action. Google has since settled an FTC antitrust investigation.

    Carlson takes the angle that Mayer is wanting to go to war with Google, which would also make sense given their battle for Firefox users. In November, Yahoo and Mozilla entered a partnership that made Yahoo the default search experience on Firefox, replacing Google, which had held the spot for the past decade. The deal showed some great early results for Yahoo in terms of search market share.

    In March, StatCounter released data indicating Yahoo was largely able to hang on to the initial gains it made in the search market, but that growth has pretty much come to a stop. The numbers for February were as follows: Google 74.9%, Bing 2.5%, and Yahoo 10.7%. That’s U.S. search share. Yahoo’s slowed growth hasn’t kept Google from more aggressively trying to get Firefox users to switch back to its search experience. It’s even been showing large ad-like messages to users on unrelated search results pages, begging them to switch to Google.

    It also sounds like all three will be competing for a similar spot in Apple’s Safari browser, as Google’s deal with Apple nears its expiration. On an earnings call, Mayer showed a great deal of enthusiasm for the prospect of Yahoo getting that.

    Would you like to see Yahoo go off on its own? Let us know in the comments.

  • Should Yahoo & Microsoft End Their Search Alliance?

    The question of whether or not Yahoo and Microsoft will remain search partners is up in the air. The two companies have a decision to reach within the next month or so. In one scenario, the two companies could part ways. In another, they could agree to extend the existing relationship. In yet another, they could continue as partners, but under revised terms. Some are even contemplating if Yahoo will end up partnering with Google.

    Which of these scenarios would you like to see? Do you think the partnership should continue as is? Should Yahoo partner with Google? Tell us what you think.

    Based on an SEC filing, Reuters reports that Yahoo and Microsoft agreed to extend a deadline to reach an agreement by 60 days after February 23. The report says:

    It was not immediately clear if the extension signaled progress or lack of consensus between Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. The announcement to extend the talks comes a few days after Nadella’s mother passed away in Hyderabad, India, according to a report in The Economic Times.

    While Microsoft isn’t saying anything, the report also shares this statement from Yahoo: “We value our partnership with Microsoft and continue discussions about plans for the future. We have nothing further to announce at this time.”

    But how much does Yahoo value that partnership? We’re talking about a partnership put together by these two companies while both were under different leadership (Carol Bartz at Yahoo and Steve Ballmer at Microsoft), and current Yahoo CEO (a former Googler) Marissa Mayer has criticized it in the past. In fact, according to some she absolutely hates the deal. Kara Swisher, who probably has better connections within Yahoo than anybody, shared this last year:

    Added the source, in a sentiment I have heard from many inside Yahoo who have spoken to her: “The minute Marissa finds a way out of that deal without committing suicide, she will. She hates it.”

    Swisher’s report was actually about Mayer’s “big push to return the company to the search business,” which said she was trying to “move Yahoo squarely into competition with both Google and Microsoft in an attempt to regain control over one of its key revenue streams.”

    “To do so, she has ordered up two under-the-radar initiatives that could potentially move the company into algorithmic search, as well as search advertising, again,” Swisher wrote.

    Mayer had been expressing her disappointment with the Microsoft deal long before that report, even in public settings. And that was after Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt reportedly said Google would “love to be a search partner for Yahoo.” Not long after that, the two partnered on contextual advertising.

    Keep in mind, Yahoo and Google tried to partner on search before Yahoo’s deal with Microsoft came to fruition. It never happened because of the threat of regulation, which led to Yahoo settling for Bing. Since then, Google has cleared some significant regulatory hurdles.

    A lot has happened since all of that though. For one, Yahoo was able to wrangle Firefox away from Google in the U.S. As of late last year, Yahoo is now the default search experience in Mozilla’s web browser. In November, Yahoo and Mozilla entered a partnership that made Yahoo the default search experience on Firefox, replacing Google, which had held the spot for the past decade. The deal showed some great early results for Yahoo in terms of search market share.

    Earlier this month, StatCounter release data indicating Yahoo was largely able to hang on to the initial gains it made in the search market, but that growth has pretty much come to a stop. The numbers for February were as follows: Google 74.9%, Bing 2.5%, and Yahoo 10.7%. That’s U.S. search share.

    Yahoo’s slowed growth hasn’t kept Google from more aggressively trying to get Firefox users to switch back to its search experience. They’ve actually been showing big ad-like messages at the top of unrelated search results pages:

    If you click “learn how,” you’re presented with this:

    This approach has been referred to as “begging” and “desperate” on Google’s part.

    Google is no doubt even more concerned about the possibility of losing Apple’s Safari browser too. All three of the big search engines want that, and Google’s deal with Apple should be expiring pretty soon. We’ve already seen Apple try to distance itself from Google in other ways.

    Mayer wasn’t shy about wanting Yahoo to power Safari on her company’s earnings call earlier this year:

    The Safari platform is basically one of the premiere search engine in the world, if not the premiere search engine in the world. We are definitely in the search distribution business. I think we stated that really clearly in the past and I think with Mozilla and also in addition we brought Amazon and eBay onboard with smaller distribution partnerships in Q4, we are in search distribution business and anyone who is in that business needs to be interested in the Safari deal.

    The Safari users are among the most engaged and lucrative users in the world and it’s something that we would really like to be able to provide.

    Swisher, who liveblogged the discussion, commented at the time, “Mayer appeared to practically salivate at the prospect if Apple throws over Google for someone else. Issue: Microsoft. Another issue: Yahoo search technology would have to be majorly upgraded.”

    It’s been over a year since Swisher’s report on Yahoo’s internal search plan. We don’t really know how that has progressed over that time. If progress has been major, that will undoubtedly play a role in how Yahoo’s partnership with Microsoft plays out.

    Greg Sterling at Search Engine Land opines, “Despite Mayer’s criticism of the Search Alliance, I would be surprised if the company completely abandoned the deal. Doing so would probably require many millions of dollars of additional investments to recreate what existed before Yahoo turned search over to Microsoft. Yahoo’s institutional investors would also probably balk at the move.”

    In the end, we’re just going to have to wait and see what happens.

    What would you like to see happen with all of this? Let us know in the comments.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Yahoo Really Wants That Apple Deal

    Yahoo Really Wants That Apple Deal

    Yahoo made some big waves in late 2014 when it partnered with Mozilla to replace Google as the default search experience in Firefox. Apple’s similar deal with Google is near its expiration, and Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer seems really interested in that.

    Do you think Apple should drop Google and go with a different search provider like Yahoo or Microsoft? Share your thoughts in the comments.

    Yahoo reported its Q4 earnings on Tuesday. During the conference call, Mayer said this about the Mozilla partnership in her prepared remarks (via SeekingAlpha’s transcript):

    External sources estimate that Mozilla has 3% to 5% of the North American search market. So this is a significant opportunity. We began serving Mozilla partly through December, so we’ve not yet had a complete calendar month of data on the deal but we are already impressed with the volume Mozilla search has brought to our marketplace and the insightfulness and agility of the Mozilla team…Our new partnership with Mozilla gives us reason to be optimistic that search will continue to be a growth story.

    During the question-and-answer session, Mayer was asked about Yahoo’s ongoing search partnership with Microsoft (which she reportedly hates) as well as the company’s new deal with Mozilla to become the default search experience in the Firefox browser. She said the “search alliance” hits the halfway point later in Q1, and that the deal has provisions that allow them to consider adjustments to its relationship with Microsoft. They’re actively exploring options and different models, she said.

    She said:

    On Mozilla overall we haven’t disclosed the financial arrangement between the two companies…it’s about 3% to 5% of the North America search market and overall, the volume’s been fantastic and the teams are just terrific to work with. That said it’s a really significant partnership and will always take time to equilibrate and tune our performance with the Mozilla traffic. And so we are very hopeful about it but at this point really too early to tell.

    There have been reports that Yahoo is also interested in taking Google’s place as the default search experience in Apple’s Safari browser, which would be huge for the company in terms of gaining more significant market share. Apple has in recent years been distancing itself more and more from Google. Mayer was asked about this during the Q&A as well. She said:

    The Safari platform is basically one of the premiere search engine in the world, if not the premiere search engine in the world. We are definitely in the search distribution business. I think we stated that really clearly in the past and I think with Mozilla and also in addition we brought Amazon and eBay onboard with smaller distribution partnerships in Q4, we are in search distribution business and anyone who is in that business needs to be interested in the Safari deal.

    The Safari users are among the most engaged and lucrative users in the world and it’s something that we would really like to be able to provide. We work really closely with Mozilla to ultimately bring to their users an experience that they designed and that they feel really suit those users and we welcome the opportunity with any other partner to do the same, particularly one with Apple’s volume and end user base.

    In other words, yeah, she really wants that deal. Kara Swisher who has covered Yahoo for years probably better than anyone else in the industry, liveblogged the earnings call, and commented, “Mayer appeared to practically salivate at the prospect if Apple throws over Google for someone else. Issue: Microsoft. Another issue: Yahoo search technology would have to be majorly upgraded.”

    In response to another question, Mayer went on to say more about Yahoo as a search partner in response to another question:

    Well certainly on search and across the board we pride ourselves on being the best partner in Silicon Valley. We work across the board with Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, we have different Samsung, we have different partnerships with all of these different providers and it’s not easy, they can’t look at each other but we work well with them.

    She said the reason they work so well is because of how flexible Yahoo is.

    In 2014, things started to get really interesting for Yahoo’s search business for the first time in a long time. 2015 may just shape up to be a major comeback year for the company on that front.

    Google is already showing concern about Yahoo’s place in Firefox. If Yahoo scores the Safari deal, it’s going to be a whole new ballgame.

    Google has been trying to get people to switch back with messages like this:

    And one on the Google homepage in the Firefox browser, which says, “Get to Google faster. Make Google your default engine.”

    Google also reported its earnings this week, and also discussed Yahoo’s deal with Mozilla a little. CFO Patrick Pichette said (via Seeking Alpha’s transcript):

    You’ve all heard the announcements about Mozilla. And so when we don’t comment on the details of any of our partnerships that we have, having said that, we continue to do two things that really matter. One is our users continue to actually go in, if they love Google, they will continue to find Google, whichever platform, whichever browser, and that’s really what we’ve focused on doing.

    And then the second piece is the way to win this in the long-term, right? It’s very simple. You just make wonderful products. And when you make wonderful products that are magical people will find them….partnerships matter. But at the core of it, you need partnership, because you have a phenomenal product. And that’s what we’re going to continue to build this amazing company.

    Last week, Merkle | RKG released its Digital Marketing Report for Q4 2014, which looked at the impact of the Yahoo/Mozilla deal on paid search.

    “We’re now able to assess the impact of the deal on Yahoo’s share of Firefox paid search traffic, which grew from 12% at the beginning of December to 30% by the end of the year,” the report said. “However, digging deeper reveals that Yahoo’s share of Firefox 34 paid clicks has been in decline ever since the first big wave of updates in the second week of December. While the initial rollout saw Yahoo’s share rise to a peak of 43% on December 10th, that figure was just 36% by December’s end.”

    “This is primarily the result of users switching the default search engine of their browsers back to Google, as shown by the corresponding increase in Google’s share of Firefox 34 paid clicks throughout the month of December,” it added. “All in all, it appears the deal will move about 2% or less of total paid search traffic from Google to Yahoo. This is far less than the 10%+ of paid traffic that stands to be on the table if Safari default search were to change hands, which news outlets have reported is a possibility in 2015.”

    According to that report, Bing and Yahoo outpaced Google in paid search growth, not only because of the Yahoo Firefox deal, but also rapid growth from Bing Product Ads.

    Do you think Google is in danger of losing any significant amount of market share? Do you think Apple will drop Google? Would it go with Yahoo? Tell us what you think.

    Note: This article has been updated from a previous version to include additional information.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Yahoo Bing Network Search/Click Volumes Double YoY

    Yahoo Search has been making headlines lately thanks to a five-year partnership with Mozilla, which sees the search engine become the default in the Firefox browser. The version that implements this just came out this week.

    When Yahoo released its latest earnings report, it revealed that its search business is actually doing better than its display ad business. It would seem that things have been looking up lately for Yahoo Search, which in the time before Google, was the dominant means of searching the Internet.

    While we’ve heard that Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer isn’t a huge fan of the search and advertising deal Yahoo has with Microsoft, which was made before her time in the driver’s seat, we really haven’t heard a whole lot about the “Search Alliance” lately.

    On Tuesday, Microsoft posted an update about its performance on its advertising blog. It says that the Yahoo Bing Network’s search and click volumes from smartphone users have more than doubled year-over-year, and that click volumes have outpaced growth in search volume. This, the company says, demonstrates “the high degree of consumer engagement and relevance of mobile ads on the Yahoo Bing Network.”

    The technology and telecommunications verticals saw 300% year-over-year growth, while Retail, Autos, and Financial Services each at least doubled in click volume.

    Microsoft tells advertisers they can expect more targeting improvements, app extensions, mobile product ads, and universal event tracking.

    Image via Bing

  • Report: Yahoo/Bing Sees Biggest Paid Search Market Share Increase In 5 Years

    The search alliance between Yahoo and Bing saw its biggest market share increase against Google in five years in Q3, in terms of paid search in the U.S., according to a new report from IgnitionOne.

    The report says the partnership saw its best showing since Q1 2009 as it increased to 25% compared to Google’s 75%.

    Yahoo/Bing is also getting more expensive, it says, with a 5.8% drop in traffic year-over-year, but a large increase in CPCs.

    Paid search spend for phones surpassed tablet spend, increasing 18.5% over the previous quarter. Phones saw triple digit growth in search metrics including impressions, clicks and spend, it says.

    The report also says third-party network decline caused a ripple effect.

    “Search spend decreases 32% YoY as advertisers pull out of Google partner network,” the firm says. “As impressions drop, CTR continues to climb, largely due to advertisers pulling out of display networks and third party search partner networks which have naturally lower CTRs.”

    “Paid Search continues to evolve and become more integrated with broader digital marketing efforts. Marketers and their technologies have become more sophisticated as they seek to drive the highest return on their advertising spend and marketing efforts.” says IgnitionOne President Roger Barnette. “Marketers and advertisers are getting better at finding users wherever they are on whatever device they are using.”

    You can check out the whole report here.

    Image via IgnitionOne

  • Yahoo’s Search Market Share Reportedly Lowest It’s Ever Been

    comScore should be releasing its latest U.S. search market numbers soon, but as Greg Sterling reports, some analysts got them early, and have been talking about them. Yahoo has reportedly fallen below 10% market share, which is the lowest it’s ever been.

    According to Sterling’s report, the numbers shake out like this: Google (67.6%), Bing (19.2%), Yahoo (9.8%), Others (3.4%). That puts Yahoo/Bing at 29%, which is consistent with its previous market share, so that whole Search Alliance thing doesn’t seem to be helping Yahoo too much. No wonder Marissa Mayer hates it.

    Yahoo released its earnings report earlier this week. It began with a quote from Mayer about how unsatisfactory the results were. This included a 4% decline in revenue.

    “Our top priority is revenue growth and by that measure, we are not satisfied with our Q2 results,” she said. “While several areas showed strength, their growth was offset by declines.”

    Interestingly enough, Yahoo actually had a good quarter for search, which grew 6% year-over-year in terms of revenue. It grew 19% year-over-year in terms of search click-driven revenue.

    A report released by eMarketer this week projects that Microsoft will overtake Yahoo in online ads this year.

    Image via Yahoo

  • Mayer Reportedly ‘Hates’ Microsoft Deal

    Mayer Reportedly ‘Hates’ Microsoft Deal

    It’s been increasingly clear that Yahoo isn’t happy in its “Search Alliance” with Microsoft, a deal that is to last a total of ten years (it was announced in ’09) if it plays out.

    Last month, Kara Swisher, frequent bearer of juicy Yahoo gossip and memo leakery, reported that Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is plotting an exit strategy rom the deal with two internal projects codenamed “Fast Break” and “Curveball”. Now she’s reporting a little bit more:

    According to people with more detailed knowledge of the plans, Mayer is trying to consolidate it all internally in a plan that is being called the “three S’s” — Stream, Shopping and Search. But rather than focusing on the Web and keywords, which Yahoo is contractually bound to allow Microsoft to serve under a 10-year search and advertising partnership deal, Mayer is aiming all this toward mobile and contextual search.

    Swisher also notes that source told her Mayer “hates” the Microsoft deal and will get out of it the minute she finds a way to “without committing suicide”.

    Mayer hasn’t been too shy about her feelings about the deal, though her disdain for it has apparently been toned down in a bit in public settings.

    In December, it came out that Yahoo was getting 31% of its revenue from the deal. Last April, Microsoft extended its revenue guarantee to Yahoo, but that’s set to expire in March. It could (and most likely will) be renewed again.

    Image via Tumblr

  • Yahoo Reportedly Plotting Exit From Microsoft Search Deal

    Apparently Marissa Mayer and Yahoo are fast-tracking a way out of the company’s “Search Alliance” with Microsoft, which currently sees Bing powering the technology behind Yahoo searches.

    This is according to Kara Swisher, who is probably more familiar with the internal workings of Yahoo than a significant portion of Yahoo’s own staff. Swisher frequently obtains and reports on internal memo leaks and other corporate dealing not meant for the public eye.

    This time, Swisher says Yahoo has two internal projects codenamed “Fast Break” and “Curveball” that “could potentially get the company back into algorithmic search as well as search advertising.”

    It could be more mobile-focused than desktop, and there are a handful of execs (which she names) involved.

    Swisher writes, “Sources said the plan is being done as part of a contemplation of how Yahoo can accelerate the end — or actually end — its longterm search and advertising partnership with Microsoft. Currently, Yahoo only has control over the search experience, but Mayer clearly wants more purview over the business.”

    The relationship between the two companies has seemed rocky at best since Mayer took over as CEO, and she has expressed disdain with the relationship publicly in the past, though apparently just hates on it internally all the time, if Swisher’s report is any indication.

    It was revealed in recent months that Yahoo gets 31% of its revenue from the deal.

    The news comes as Microsoft is reportedly set to name its new CEO – Satya Nadella – a current Microsoftie, who would already have some familiarity with the deal.

    Image via Tumblr

  • Yahoo Is Getting 31% Of Its Revenue From Microsoft Deal

    The relationship between Yahoo and Microsoft has been a little rocky this year, but it has come out that the “Search Alliance” between the two companies is generating as much as 31% of Yahoo’s revenue.

    The SEC reportedly sent letters to Yahoo asking for more details on its revenue from search and display advertising. Bloomberg reports (via Danny Sullivan):

    The company outlined the portion of revenue it gets from a search agreement with Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), following inquires stretching back several months, according to new regulatory filings that were made public yesterday. Yahoo, which had previously said the deal comprised more than 10 percent of sales, said the pact generated 31 percent of revenue in the latest quarter.

    In other words, Yahoo may need that Microsoft deal more than anyone realized, given the company’s public complaints about it.

    CEO Marissa Mayer made comments at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference in San Francisco in February expressing disappointment with the deal.

    “We need to see monetization working better because we know that it can and we’ve seen other competitors in the space illustrate how well it can work,” she was quoted as saying.

    Naturally, there was a lot of talk that Yahoo could look to leave the deal (which was made before Mayer’s time) early if things didn’t improve, though Microsoft indicated it wold be hard for them to do so.

    In May, Microsoft extended a revenue guarantee to Yahoo, as Reuters reported at the time:

    The U.S. revenue-per-search guarantee, which had expired on March 31, will be extended for one year, and took effect on April 1, Yahoo said in its 10Q filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday.

    This was the first agreement between the company since Mayer took over at Yahoo.

    More friction between the two companies was revealed in October as they had been having a legal battle about rolling out Bing’s search technology on Yahoo in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Yahoo was concerned about the uncertainty of Microsoft’s leadership with Steve Ballmer stepping down as CEO.

    Based on the new information, however, we wouldn’t expect Yahoo to be walking away from the alliance anytime soon.

    Image: Bing Ads

  • Yahoo Microsoft ‘Search Alliance’ Encounters More Friction

    More friction between Microsoft and Yahoo regarding the two companies’ “Search Alliance” has been made public thanks to court documents obtained by Reuters.

    The two companies have been having a quiet legal battle about rolling out Microsoft’s Bing search technology on Yahoo in Taiwan and Hong Kong – the last two of sixteen markets – which are supposed to make the transition this month.

    Yahoo apparently is uncertain about the direction the alliance is going to go in under new leadership at Microsoft, and wants to hold off until it determines that the next CEO is dedicated to the partnership.

    Steve Ballmer’s retirement from the role was revealed in August, and Microsoft reportedly wants to have him replaced by the end of the year.

    The deal between the two companies was for a decade, but could end sooner, though Microsoft doesn’t intend to let Yahoo pull out without a fight, should it choose to try.

    The partnership was implemented before former Googler Marissa Mayer was running Yahoo, and she has been critical of the results since she took over.

    Either way, according to Reuters, a judge ruled on Monday that Yahoo has to go ahead and adopt Microsoft’s technology in the two remaining countries. The news organization shares a statement from Microsoft on the legal matter:

    “We had a narrow disagreement regarding the Search Alliance rollout in Hong Kong and Taiwan. We have unwavering plans to continue investing in the Search Alliance, now operating in more than 20 countries, and the Bing platform, which is central to our latest products.”

    Ahead of Yahoo’s earnings last week, Microsoft put out some numbers pertaining to the partnership.

    On a quarter-over-quarter basis, click-through-rates are up 6.8 percent, while cost-per-acquisition is down 13 percent, according to David Pann, general manager of the Microsoft Advertising Search Group, citing research from RKG.

    RKG also found thatt advertiser spend on the Yahoo Bing Network continues to grow compared to Google. It’s up 39% year-over-year, while Google is up 18%.

    Pann wrote in a blog post, “A lot of that is driven by non-brand click growth, which is up 45 percent on Bing Ads due to investments in our marketplace algorithms. In addition, CPCs fell 2 percent overall as Bing Ads continues to drive improvements that benefit our advertisers. The report says ‘advertiser ROI has improved on Bing Ads even as the platform has been able to deliver big traffic increases with better ad-matching technology.’”

    Image: Bing

  • Microsoft Extends Revenue Guarantee To Yahoo In ‘Search Alliance’

    In a recent financial filing, Yahoo cited that Microsoft extended its revenue guarantee in the two companies’ ongoing “search alliance”. This is a guarantee that Microsoft has so far failed to live up to, but continues to extend, presumably, to keep Yahoo from walking away from the deal, and potentially into the arms of a certain competitor.

    Reuters reports:

    The U.S. revenue-per-search guarantee, which had expired on March 31, will be extended for one year, and took effect on April 1, Yahoo said in its 10Q filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday.

    …

    Extension of the search revenue guarantee marks Yahoo’s first agreement with Microsoft since Marissa Mayer became Chief Executive of Yahoo in July. Mayer, who is seeking to reverse a multi-year decline in Yahoo’s revenue and in its online traffic, has been critical of the Microsoft partnership struck by former Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz.

    Indeed she has. At the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference in February, she expressed her disappointment, saying that they need to see monetization working better, “because we know that it can and we’ve seen other competitors in the space illustrate how well it can work.”

    There have been rumors in the past that Yahoo would kill its deal with Microsoft prematurely, but Microsoft has indicated that it would not make it easy for Yahoo to pull out. Of course, there has also been plenty of speculation that Yahoo could try a deal with Google again. Yahoo initially tried to partner with Google, but potential regulatory hurdles led to that falling through and Yahoo settling for Microsoft.

    But that was a long time ago, and under different leadership.

    The Microsoft Yahoo Search Alliance could still fall apart.

    “On March 31, because of the failure with RPS, Yahoo potentially could have terminated its deal with Microsoft on February 23, 2015,” explains Search Engine Land’s Danny Sullivan. “That’s the five year mark into the ten year agreement, where there’s an out for both sides.”

    “That’s still a date to watch, but April 1, 2014 is more important,” he adds. “If Microsoft fails to deliver for a third time, maybe by then, Yahoo will want to move on. Assuming, of course, that US regulatory bodies even allow it to partner with Google.”

    Google has cleared some significant regulatory hurdles since it tried to partner with Yahoo before. It would be interesting to see how such a scenario would develop in the future.

    In semi-related news, Chitika announced a multi-year extension of its advertising agreement with Yahoo.

    “Yahoo! has a proven track record of capitalizing on strong, successful partnerships, helping the organization meet and exceed its business goals,” said Venkat Kolluri, Chitika’s CEO. “Extending and expanding our relationship with Yahoo! reaffirms our commitment to deliver innovative online and mobile ad technology solutions, which will help contribute to the growth of Yahoo!’s search marketplace.”

  • Yahoo Is Not Pleased With Its Microsoft Search Deal

    That big Yahoo Microsoft search deal is not working as well as Yahoo would like.

    Do you think Yahoo will sever its ties with Microsoft prematurely? Do you think it should? Share your thoughts in the comments.

    CEO Marissa Mayer made comments at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference in San Francisco on Tuesday expressing disappointment with the deal. Reuters quotes her:

    “One of the points of the alliance is that we collectively want to grow share rather than just trading share with each other…”

    “We need to see monetization working better because we know that it can and we’ve seen other competitors in the space illustrate how well it can work.”

    Rumors have existed for quite some time, that Yahoo and Microsoft could kill their search deal early, but we’ve heard nothing substantial enough to suggest this is going to happen. However, Yahoo seems to be getting increasingly impatient.

    Yahoo is a different company than it was when it made the deal with Microsoft. Marissa Mayer is the fifth person to hold the CEO position while the deal has been in place (granted, two of them were interim CEOs). It was announced under Carol Bartz, and has gone through leadership from Tim Morse, Scott Thompson, Ross Levinsohn, and finally Mayer.

    Mayer is, of course, a former Googler, and has brought other former Googlers along for the ride. Since Mayer has been at Yahoo, the company seems to be closer with Google than any other time in recent memory. In fact, last week, Yahoo announced a new partnership with Google (non-exclusive) for contextual ads, which will see Yahoo displaying contextual display ads from Google on various Yahoo properties and “certain co-branded sites” using Google’s AdSense for Content and AdMob advertising offerings.

    “By adding Google to our list of world-class contextual ads partners, we’ll be able to expand our network, which means we can serve users with ads that are even more meaningful,” said Yahoo in its announcement. “For our users, there won’t be a noticeable difference in how or where ads appear. More options simply mean greater flexibility. We look forward to working with all of our contextual ads partners to ensure we’re delivering the right ad to the right user at the right time.”

    We asked Microsoft’s Stefan Weitz about Google and Yahoo’s partnership last week, when we spoke with him about Microsoft’s new “Scroogled” campaign. The only comment he offered on the subject, was “I’d say I wonder how Google is using the content [of] your private communications in Gmail to serve ads in other places.”

    Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt recently expressed interest in partnering with Yahoo, years after the two companies tried to partner on a similar search deal to what Yahoo has with Microsoft. The partnership never happened thanks to the threat of regulation, so Yahoo settled for Bing, which regulators did not have a problem with.

    Since all of that, Google has cleared some significant regulatory hurdles (though it faces others). Last month, the company settled with the Federal Trade Commission, which found that Google’s search practices did not violate antitrust law.

    A couple weeks ago, Yahoo released its earnings report for Q4 and the full year 2012. The report was better than many analysts had expected, and this was helped significantly by better-than-expected search performance. Mayer made some comments during the company’s earnings call, indicating that search is a major priority at Yahoo. Wired quoted her:

    “Overall in search, it’s a key area of investment for us,” Mayer said. “We need to invest in a lot of interface improvements. All of the innovations in search are going to happen at the user interface level moving forward and we need to invest in those features both on the desktop and on mobile and I think both ultimately will be key plays for us.”

    “We have a big investment we want to make and a big push on search. We have lost some share in recent years and we’d like to regain some of that share and we have some ideas as to how.”

    It was interesting to see this emphasis put on search, but still on the front end, which would seem to imply that Yahoo is happy to continue outsourcing the back end. It makes you wonder what Mayer’s thinking, particularly if she’s not happy with the Microsoft/Yahoo deal performance.

    Last week, reports emerged that Russian search engine Yandex has surpassed Bing in global search queries, though as Danny Sullivan at Search Engine Land notes, Bing is still well head of Yandex in unique searchers.

    Recent research from RKG has indicated that the Yahoo Bing Network continues to take away market share from Google, as Bing recently pointed out to us, noting that Bing Ads have gained paid search spend share from Google four quarters in a row.

    Obviously it’s not benefiting Yahoo to the extent the company would like.

    Microsoft did tell us about some new ad formats that it will be launching this year, such as Google-like product listing ads and click-to-call ads with Skype integration. Both formats have proven popular with Google advertisers, and the Yahoo Bing Network continues to strive to emulate Google’s success.

    David Pann, GM of Microsoft’s Search Network tells us that advertisers come over to the Yahoo Bing Network with the mentality of “It performs well over there [Google], so it will here too.”

    Will Yahoo and Microsoft’s Search Alliance stay in place? How long will Yahoo remain patient?

    This is not the first time we’ve seen Yahoo speak publicly about dissatisfaction with Microsoft in recent memory. Regarding IE 10’s “Do Not Track” default, Yahoo recently slammed Microsoft saying that the company’s move “degrades the experience for the majority of users and makes it hard to deliver our value proposition to them.”

    That was not an off the cuff remark. That was an official blog post.

    At the conference, Mayer also reportedly made comments expressing an interest in strengthening Yahoo’s relationship with Facebook (a big partner of Bing’s). Bloomberg reports that Mayer said she plans to focus on mobile apps and strengthening ties with Facebook to “bolster turnaround efforts at the biggest U.S. web portal.” Brian Womack and Peter Burrows quote her:

    “A lot of the strengths of Facebook are available to Yahoo users,” Mayer said yesterday at an investor conference in San Francisco hosted by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. “That’s something we want to build upon. We have a real commitment to bringing valuable content to our users.”

    …

    Enhancing social features is crucial to Yahoo’s success, Mayer said, as she reinforced her preference to partner with companies like Google, Apple Inc. and Facebook rather than build expensive new products.

    Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he would “love” to work with Google at a recent company press event, though he indicated that those two companies aren’t really on speaking terms. He did, however, also say, ““We want to work with any company as long as they’ll honor the privacy of the folks on Facebook.” (as quoted by The Verge).

    On Wednesday, Yahoo announced that it has expanded its display advertising partnership with Microsoft and AOL into Canada.

    Do you think a Yahoo search partnership with Google would be good for users? For advertisers? Could the deal that the companies backed out of a few years ago work in the future? Is Yahoo better off sticking with Microsoft? We’d love to hear what you think about it.

    Image: Google Talks Archive (YouTube)

  • Microsofties Say It Would Be Hard For Yahoo To End The ‘Search Alliance’ [Report]

    One thing seems clear. Yahoo is working on a turnaround in search. What is less clear is how big a role Microsoft will play in that.

    Last month, when Yahoo released its earnings report for Q4 and the full year 2012, it included better than expected results, which were significantly helped by Yahoo’s search performance.

    As you probably know, Yahoo and Microsoft entered a “Search Alliance” back in 2009, when Yahoo was under the leadership of Carol Bartz. The agreement was to last for ten years, and would see Bing powering the back end of Yahoo’s search, and Yahoo would become the exclusive worldwide relationship sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers. Advertising for both companies would be run through Microsoft’s AdCenter platform, which has since become Bing Ads and the Yahoo Bing Network.

    For that ten-year duration, Microsoft also acquired an exclusive license to Yahoo’s core search technologies along with the ability to integrate Yahoo’s search technologies into Bing.

    It’s no surprise then, that Microsoft would want to make it incredibly hard for Yahoo to leave the partnership prematurely, if the company was inclined to do so. According to a new report from All Things D’s Kara Swisher, who has a proven track record of Yahoo insider information, sources at Microsoft say the company is “unlikely to extend the agreement without major concessions, and that any efforts to end the overall deal will be difficult for Yahoo.”

    She quotes one of the sources as saying, “There is what [Yahoo] wants, and what’s possible.”

    And leaving the Search Alliance early could very well be what Yahoo wants. Last week at an investors conference, Yahoo CEO (and former Googler) Marissa Mayer expressed her disappointment with the deal. Reuters quoted her:

    “One of the points of the alliance is that we collectively want to grow share rather than just trading share with each other…”

    “We need to see monetization working better because we know that it can and we’ve seen other competitors in the space illustrate how well it can work.”

    We’ve heard of industry rumors that Yahoo would seek to kill the deal early for quite some time, but Yahoo seems to be getting increasingly vocal about the state of affairs, though it has not come right out and said it wishes to kill the deal.

    Yahoo has, however, slammed Microsoft in other venues in recent memory.

    Either way, Yahoo is prioritizing search more than it has in years, from the sound of it. On the earnings all, Mayer said as much. Here’s Wired’s account of her words:

    “Overall in search, it’s a key area of investment for us,” Mayer said. “We need to invest in a lot of interface improvements. All of the innovations in search are going to happen at the user interface level moving forward and we need to invest in those features both on the desktop and on mobile and I think both ultimately will be key plays for us.”

    “We have a big investment we want to make and a big push on search. We have lost some share in recent years and we’d like to regain some of that share and we have some ideas as to how.”

    That does make it sound like Yahoo is more interested in focusing on the front end than on the back end, which really makes one name spring to mind as an alternative back-end partner, should Yahoo pursue an early end to the Microsoft partnership. And that’s a name that would give Microsoft all the more reason to make it as hard as possible for Yahoo to end it. It’s also a name that Mayer has very personal ties with. It’s also a name that Yahoo just announced a new display partnership with. (Hint: it rhymes with Yoogle).

    Of course, Yahoo and Google wanted to partner in the first place, but the threat of regulatory action impeded any deal, so Yahoo settled for Microsoft. It’s hard to say whether the two would be able to get something done if they tried again, even if Yahoo is able to ditch Microsoft.

    A new report from Business Insider quotes some former Yahoo employees who seem quite sure that Yahoo wants Google as its search partner. One of them said this about Yahoo and Google’s display deal:

    “Marissa certainly wants to move the search deal from Microsoft to Google… Maybe this is the first of a few chess moves.”

    Business Insider’s Nicholas Carlson himself adds, “But one thing is clear: Yahoo’s deal with Microsoft is likely forcing it to accept lower revenue per search than a comparable deal with Google would. So Mayer would be crazy if she weren’t trying to either shift to Google or use Google as leverage to extract a better deal from Microsoft.”

    But Yahoo will press on with its own search initiatives regardless of partners. According to Swisher’s report, Mayer has appointed long-time Yahoo exec Laurence Mann to head Yahoo Search.

  • Yahoo Says Microsoft Is Making It Hard To Deliver Its Value Proposition To Users

    Yahoo slammed Microsoft today over its use of “Do Not Track” by default in Internet Explorer 10. This is interesting on several levels, but most notably because Yahoo and MIcrosoft are partners in search and advertising. Together, they have put together the Yahoo Bing Network. Perhaps you’ve heard of it.

    This close relationship the two companies have developed in recent years (officially called a “search alliance”) has not stopped Yahoo from taking a public shot at its partner in a post on its Privacy blog (h/t: Kara Swisher).

    “At Yahoo!, we aspire to make the world’s daily habits more inspiring and entertaining,” the post begins. “Our users have come to expect a personalized Yahoo! experience tailor-made for their lives — whether they’re checking local weather, sports scores, stock quotes, daily news, or viewing ads on our site. We fundamentally believe that the online experience is better when it is personalized.”

    “That said, we also believe that there should be an easy and transparent way for users to express their privacy preferences to Yahoo!,” it continues. “That’s why we offer our own tools and resources such as Ad Interest Manager, to give users more control over personalized advertising on Yahoo!, and why we participate in industry-wide programs such as AdChoices, which allows users to learn why they’ve been shown an ad.”

    Then the calling out begins.

    “Yahoo! has been working with our partners in the Internet industry to come up with a standard that allows users to opt out of certain website analytics and ad targeting,” Yahoo says. “In principle, we support ‘Do Not Track’ (DNT). Unfortunately, because discussions have not yet resulted in a final standard for how to implement DNT, the current DNT signal can easily be abused. Recently, Microsoft unilaterally decided to turn on DNT in Internet Explorer 10 by default, rather than at users’ direction. In our view, this degrades the experience for the majority of users and makes it hard to deliver on our value proposition to them. It basically means that the DNT signal from IE10 doesn’t express user intent.” Emphasis ours.

    “Ultimately, we believe that DNT must map to user intent — not to the intent of one browser creator, plug-in writer, or third-party software service,” says Yahoo. “Therefore, although Yahoo! will continue to offer Ad Interest Manager and other tools, we will not recognize IE10’s default DNT signal on Yahoo! properties at this time.

    Partners can have disagreements and continue to work together, but you have to wonder if the relationship between these two companies is going south. There were already rumors going around that the their partnership might not last for its entire decade run.

  • Yahoo And Microsoft Introduce The Yahoo Bing Network, adCenter Becomes Bing Ads

    Microsoft and Yahoo have announced the Yahoo Bing Network as the official name for their combined search marketplace, which came about as the result of the companies’ “Search Alliance” partnership. Likewise, Microsoft adCenter has become simply Bing Ads.

    “Bing Ads is not only a new name, but an improved experience with new features to help you better manage your campaigns and complete tasks faster,” says Microsoft’s Tina Kelleher. “Recent improvements include: a new web interface, improved ad rotation controls, and agency enablement tools that make it easier for agencies to manage multiple accounts.”

    David Pann outlines the changes as:

    Historic Quality Score helps advertisers closely monitor their campaign performance trend and proactively respond to the competition.

    Negative Keywords Conflicts Report allows advertisers to identify negative keywords conflicts in scale with ease. As a result, advertisers will receive more targeted traffic and increase their ROI.

    Share of Voice reporting quantifies missed impressions and classifies them in detailed buckets, allowing advertisers to take precise action to regain lost share.

    Ad delivery status and ad preview tools enable advertisers to more quickly identify issues hindering ad serving at the campaign, ad group and keyword levels.

    With ongoing enhancements to the Bing Ads Desktop tool, advertisers have an additional resource for tracking performance and identifying growth opportunities.

    The Bing Ads Intelligence tool provides access to customizable marketplace level information that allows advertisers to make proactive decisions regarding their campaign management.

    Pann also notes that there is a new Import Campaign feature (for importing from AdWords), and a new Editorial Exceptions feature for resolving editorial disapprovals during and after the ad submission process.

    Additional updates are on the way, Kelleher says.

    Microsoft and Yahoo say that the network (in the U.S.), consisting of Yahoo and Microsoft’s core search sites, accounts for 30% of the search share, and reaches 151 million searchers who are likely to spend 124% more than the average searcher, and 5% more than Google searchers. The companies say advertisers can reach 46 million unique searchers in the U.S. who aren’t using Google.

    “A similar result holds true worldwide, with 489 million unique searchers, 92 million of whom do not use Google; and worldwide the Yahoo! Bing Network represents an audience who is likely to spend 124% more than the average searcher and 78% more than Google searchers worldwide,” the companies say.

    “In addition to Yahoo! and Microsoft Core Search sites, the Yahoo! Bing Network represents partner sites like Facebook, Amazon, Monster, WebMD, CNBC, and Viacom, plus networks like The Wall Street Journal Digital Network,” the companies add.

    Advertisers would do well to note that Bing has been revealed as the default search on Amazon’s new line of Kindle Fire devices.

  • Google Still Courting Yahoo’s Ad Properties (Somewhere, Microsoft Groans)

    You have to wonder at what point Google is just trying to get Microsoft’s goat when it comes to making purchases or if Google really is honestly trying to stay ahead of the pack. Case in point: Yahoo.

    Last year, Google was said to be involved in talks to purchase Yahoo, or at least some meaty parts of Yahoo. The deal, though unlikely, would have made for some awkward recalibrating for Microsoft, which is partnered with Yahoo in Search Alliance, a service that supplies advertisements across both Bing and Yahoo. It appears, though, that Google hasn’t shelved its interest in Yahoo’s ad technologies.

    According to sources that spoke with Business Insider, Google made an initial offer to buy Yahoo’s advertising business (as well as its customer list) about three months ago when Yahoo’s then-CEO Scott Thompson was still running things. Talks didn’t move past the corporate development level, but they are said to be on-going.

    While the deal would without a doubt fill Yahoo’s wallet with millions upon millions of dollars – if it were to ever to actually get into serious stages, that is – it would result in Yahoo getting rid of 2,000 employees, BI’s source said. That prospect, though not really qualified to seem plausible at this point, comes on the heels of Yahoo giving 2,000 people the ax back in April, the company’s largest layoff ever and its fifth layoff in five years. Yahoo only has 12,000 in the post-Thompson era, so the speculated layoffs would reduce match the company’s biggest layoff ever.

    In other words, in you’re looking for jobs in the tech industry and desire job security as one of your must-haves, maybe Yahoo isn’t the first or even the second place you should be looking.

  • Microsoft, Yahoo Search Alliance Transition Complete in UK, Ireland, France

    In mid-April, Microsoft announced that the Microsoft-Yahoo Search Alliance was nearly final in the UK, Ireland and France, after announcing the expansion into these countries in February. The ad transition began on April 18.

    Today, Microsoft announced that the transition is now complete in these countries.

    “Yahoo! Search is really an important part of our business and we have invested a lot of time to make the transition as efficient and as seamless as possible for our advertisers and publishers” sid Jon Myers, Director, Account Management UK and Ireland “Now we can focus on delivering compelling content for our users and customers to build relevant online experiences.

    “We’re delighted to successfully reach this important milestone in the UK, France and Ireland,” said Microsoft’s Mark Richardson. “As a result of this transition we believe Bing users will see more useful advertising while presenting advertisers with an increasingly compelling alternative in search advertising. We look forward to this rolling out across the next set of European markets.”

    Microsoft has indicated that Germany, Austria and Switzerland would be the focal points for the Search Alliance, following the UK, Ireland and France. The transition on the paid search side has already been completed in North America and India. For organic search, it’s already been completed globally.

    Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that it has rebranded its ads for SMBs as “Bing, powered by Bing and Yahoo! Search.”

  • Microsoft Rebrands Ads To SMBs As “Bing, powered by Bing and Yahoo! Search”

    Microsoft Rebrands Ads To SMBs As “Bing, powered by Bing and Yahoo! Search”

    Microsoft announced that it is rebranding its advertising product for SMBs as “Bing, powered by Bing and Yahoo! Search”. The company says that this is to simplify the way small business search advertisers do business with Microsoft.

    “By aligning with the Bing brand, SMBs will better understand that they are buying traffic on Bing and Yahoo! search,” a spokesperson for Microsoft tells WebProNews. “Many of our advertisers find us through the Bing homepage, where they click on ‘Advertise here.’ This shift helps those customers follow a more intuitive path to what they are looking for.”

    The change is effective today.

    “With one ad buy through Microsoft Advertising adCenter, search advertisers are able to reach 158 million unique searchers using Bing and Yahoo! Search (including Microsoft and Yahoo! Core Search sites), providing a sizable volume of 5.6 billion monthly searches and a 29% search share, which is nearly one-third of all queries in the US,” says Microsoft’s GM of SMB Advertising, Matt Lydon, citing comScore data.

    “Our audience is significant in size and in online purchase activity,” he adds. “The unique searchers on Bing and Yahoo! Search (including Microsoft and Yahoo! Core Search sites) are likely to spend 26% more than the average searcher, and likely to spend 9% more than Google searchers in the U.S.”

    He also notes that advertisers can reach 49 million unique searchers using Bing and Yahoo, that don’t use Google in the US.

    The “search alliance” between Microsoft and Yahoo continues to roll on. Last month, it finalized in the UK, Ireland and France.

  • Microsoft /Yahoo Search Alliance Nearly Final In UK, Ireland, France

    In February, Microsoft and Yahoo announced that they were expanding their “search alliance” in the UK, France and Ireland. Today, they announced they’re about to enter the final stage of its implementation in these countries, and will start combining Bing and Yahoo search audiences on the Microsoft adCenter platform.

    The ad transition officially begins on April 18.

    “Next week, we begin to shift ad serving for Yahoo! Search over to Microsoft Advertising adCenter,” says Microsoft’s Cedric Chambraz. “This means that adCenter ads will gradually be displayed on Yahoo! Search result pages in the UK, France and Ireland. This process will begin as early as the 18th of April and is expected to conclude during the last week of the month when 100% of the Yahoo! traffic will be made available in adCenter and Yahoo! Search Marketing accounts will go in read-only mode.”

    “As Yahoo! ad serving moves to adCenter, and your clicks and impressions in that account begin to increase, you’ll see a corresponding decrease in clicks and impressions in your Yahoo! Search Marketing account,” he adds. “It is thus important to continue managing your campaigns across both platforms throughout this transition phase, in order to avoid missing out on any potential clicks. To help you prepare, I wanted to share the following guidance to assist you through this transition.”

    There’s a “transition portal” in the adCenter tab when you sign into your Yahoo account, which you can use to complete the transition, which the companies are urging you to do sooner rather than later, if you’re in one of these countries.

    The companies also suggest increasing your adCenter budget (go figure) to prepare for increased traffic, once Yahoo search traffic starts to flood adCenter.

    According to Microsoft, Germany, Austria and Switzerland will be getting the search alliance treatment in the coming months.