Now that Yahoo and Microsoft have received DoJ and EU approval on their search and advertising deal, Yahoo is discussing what the deal means for its search engine and its advertisers. The two companies have a Search Alliance page set up that gives insight about what to expect.
Once the Search Alliance is implemented, both companies will continue to have differentiated consumer search experiences. Yahoo and Microsoft will each provide customer support to different advertiser segments.
For advertisers, Yahoo says they will reach more customers, save time and effort and benefit from “rapid innovation.” According to Yahoo, the “alliance” will help advertisers reach up to 150 million searchers and get about 62% more search volume. There’s been a lot of talk about what will happen to Yahoo Search BOSS and SearchMonkey after the new deal takes effect.
“With the implementation of the search alliance, the BOSS team is excited to examine the Microsoft web, image, and video search technologies in more detail,” says Yahoo’s Ashim Chhabra. “Yahoo may continue to offer the BOSS service, which would integrate some Yahoo services and content with algorithmic results provided by Microsoft. The team is exploring what a future offering could consist of, with some services powered by Microsoft and unique content provided by Yahoo. As we finalize details for any changes to the BOSS service, we will give developers plenty of notice.”
“Also, prior to the announcement of the Yahoo and Microsoft search alliance, we shared our intention to explore a fee-based structure for BOSS,” Chhabra adds. “We continue to explore an appropriate revenue model as we work to define the future of BOSS in the context of our new search alliance. We know BOSS is important to your business, and any conclusions on strategic direction and roadmap for the service will be shared with developers as soon as possible.”
Both companies sharing ideas about how to “advance” SearchMonkey. The companies saying “advance” must man that it will still have a place in Yahoo’s search strategy.