Breaking News: “Micro-Hoo” to Take on Google

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In the coming days and months you will likely hear a lot about the partnership between Microsoft and Yahoo that was formally announced this morning. Here’s what you need to know right now:

Microsoft (Bing) will power Yahoo Search while Yahoo! will become the exclusive worldwide sales force for both companies’ advertisers.

Take a Moment to Breathe…

But hold on, there is no need to act just yet. There are no imminent changes. Yahoo expects to fully implement the combined effort within 24 months following regulatory approval, which it hopes to gain early 2010.

For those involved in SEO: Yahoo has effectively “given up” on competing for search share against Google. Their search infrastructure and algorithms will be replaced by Bing’s. The implications are important to note, as Bing is slightly different than Yahoo or Google. Because Bing is relatively new, the next few months will allow us time to discover more about how they rank websites and refine our optimization strategies before Bing absorbs Yahoo’s current market share.

For those involved in PPC: Microsoft’s AdCenter (self-service advertising platform) will replace the Yahoo Search Marketing interface, but the human sales force will be Yahoo’s. For accounts large enough to have a human sales rep at either firm, chances are you will be hearing from them soon.

For more information, you can read the following:

• Official Press Release
• ChoiceValueInnovation.com (site set up by Yahoo and MSFT)
  
• TechCrunch Analysis

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