A free pass on what you ask? Well, a free pass on the partnership of Microbing and Yahoo as it morphs into Microbingahoo to provide search from bing that will be sold by Yahoo that will make the online world a better place because of competition. You remember that one, right?

Funny how we forget about the big news of the summer when there is no speculation or guessing whether it would or wouldn’t happen and if it did what it would look like. Well, we wouldn’t want this to go 18-24 months without a little Google induced drama now, would we?

Enter Google’s presence in Washington, DC. Of course, they align their firepower in the political arena for just such occasions. It’s only fair since Microsoft (and Yahoo too?) have their folks in the capitol to ‘fight for their right to partner’ (insert lyrics into Beastie Boys song “You Gotta Fight for Your Right to Party” – we may have an underground hit).

AdAge tells us of the behind the scenes activity

The Mountain View, Calif.-based giant hasn’t taken an official position on the proposed deal, but it is quietly disseminating a view to regulators, politicians, analysts and journalists: that the need for scale is not a valid case for approving Microsoft’s search deal with Yahoo.

This, of course, is the core argument in favor of the deal: that Microsoft and Yahoo cannot compete effectively against Google in search on their own and that their deal would make the search market itself more competitive.

This kind of action is no surprise. In fact, I have been wondering when the fireworks would begin. While it appears as if there will be little to truly get in the way of regulatory approval of this partnership you would have to expect this gamesmanship from Google. If for nothing else, to get some publicity and make a public case before they will appear to be magnanimous enough to let the partnership happen. Why would they let it happen without much of a fight other than for show? I suspect it would be supreme confidence that they will crush the new Micro – whatever no matter what form or name it takes.

Google is busy with other issues, as well, like its book settlement so this is just part of their day to day activities in DC. Depending on the source, their level of engagement varies.

Another executive close to the process described Google as “actively” lobbying against the deal, but Google said it is just responding to a Justice Department requests for its opinion.

There are many angles to this an honestly the AdAge Article does a real nice job of laying out the issues around scale and pricing power that are at the core of the arguments both for and against the partnership.

So we at Marketing Pilgrim say “Let the he said, she said begin!” After it’s all said and done what will this look like and will any of these efforts serve to do anything other than keep brands in the news? Not likely. What will really be interesting is if any of this effort from Microsoft and Yahoo will truly put a dent in ‘The Goog’ at all.

Social Media Monitoring in Just 60-Seconds. Guaranteed!

The following is my response to a request from a client regarding my opinion on social media and online display advertising.

There seems to have been an uptick in the number of recommendations suggesting businesses begin or increase their budgets for social media and online display advertising campaigns.

Dear Client,

The efficacy rhetoric of both social network and display advertising  is increasingly on the rise as Microsoft/Yahoo and Facebook/Twitter attempt to attract more display brand advertising dollars from traditional media who are losing the war for the consumer’s attention.

The social / display advertising camps wouldn’t have to be selling their merits – if their results did their speaking for them.

The reason the former don’t is because their product produces inferior results while the latter has yet to yield any results if any results at all.

These are some of the reasons why the Yahoo/Facebook/Twitter market cap / value is 1/8 Google’s $150 Billion.

However, as with everything else – there are exceptions.

I have had a small percentage of deals convert with display while others have not.

Testing is the only way to prove or disprove whether or not display advertising will work for a particular business.

Display ads can be geo-targeted but its not as precise because it relies on other publishers data and it can have placement, targeting and measurement issues.

The first thing to do is to test whether text ads convert in their display network first. If so, then try image / display ads.

Unless of course a testing supports and fulfills a brand’s impression objectives in target markets and isn’t held to the same level of results performance as search.

If a display advertising test meets its objectives, then launch trials with Yahoo / MSN publishing partners.

Just the other day, Jonathan Strickland wrote about Google’s Caffeine, and if you missed it, the American search giant is trying to redefine the way it crawls the Web, indexes pages and ranks search results. As Jonathan pointed out, some think that Caffeine is a response to Microsoft Bing, but even as fast as Google moves, it still couldn’t rush a brand new search system to market that quickly. I mean, it was no secret that Microsoft was working to replace Live Search, but similarities between the two systems are likely to be fairly coincidental, unless there was some serious leaking of proprietary information going on.

But why would Google have been working on a new way to rank pages in search? Google’s lead may seem commanding — 65 percent to a combined 28 percent for Yahoo and Microsoft, as The New York Times’ Miguel Helft pointed out — but that’s not the whole story. Helft wrote that ComScore, an organization that tracks online behavior, ranks searcher penetration for Google at 84 percent, to Microsoft/Yahoo’s combined 73 percent. Basically, this says that people use more than one search engine when they work, and apparently people use Google, Yahoo and Microsoft together.

Why bother? It matters. You get different results depending on which you use. Mary Jo Foley at ZDNet wrote about a comparison made by Search Engine Land between Caffeine with regular Google. Video and news results ranked in the middle and lower on the page with the Caffeinated search, when they lurked near the top on the current Google search results page. And on Bing? Foley compared Caffeine to Bing and found that Microsoft’s new decision engine didn’t put any news or blog results at all on the front page. Images and videos ranked near the top. It’s a completely different experience altogether.

Now that I’ve had the opportunity to try Bing, I like it. I also like other search engines and use metasearch engines that aggregate search results from many engines. It’s good to mix things up a bit. I think the winner of the search engine wars is you, because you get to reap the benefits of their competition to be the best.

For more on search technology and these companies, take a look at these articles:

How Google Works
Why is the Google algorithm so important?
How Microsoft Works

I know I am a little late with this blog post, but I needed a little time to fully think about all the implications of the Microsoft/Yahoo deal.   Unlike Microsoft’s previous attempts to buy Yahoo, Microsoft agreed to have a Search partnership for the next 10 years with Yahoo.

After looking over the deal multiple times Microsoft has to thank Yahoo’s former CEO Jerry Yang for this deal.  When Microsoft originally offered to buy Yahoo in 2008 for $47.5 billion, Yang was very adamant in not selling to Microsoft, citing that Yahoo was worth much more than the offer.  Now a little more than 1 year later Microsoft ended up getting what they wanted; Yahoo’s search technology, and for considerably less on what they offered in 2008.

So what will come out of this partnership?   How will it affect the future of Search?   Will it help to innovate search or slow it down?  What does the deal mean for the everyday Internet user?  How does Google feel about the deal?

With this partnership Microsoft will roughly have 28% of the market share in paid search.  That means an increase in competition on MSN AdCenter.  So we can say goodbye to the good ole days when MSN AdCenter was a cheaper solution to Google AdWords.  PPC Advertisers will be forced to bid more on keywords to compete with all the new advertisers.  I am waiting to see if the increase competition will have an effect on AdCenter’s high conversion rate.  I guess we will know the answer in the first quarter of next year.

The competition won’t only effect PPC   advertisers; it will also affect SEOs who will start optimizing their pages for Bing.   Unfortunately this increased competition will include all the spammers, which will dilute Bing’s search engine results page (SERP).  It will take time to refine their algorithm in order to shift out all the spammers, and to clean up their SERP.   Will this initial attack from the spammers drive away users? We don’t know?

What will happen to all of Yahoo’s other properties?  Yahoo Directory is one of the major directories on the Internet right now.  Will a link from it still be valuable? Will we loose Yahoo Link Data, one of the largest providers of link info in SEO?  What about one of my favorite Social Bookmarking site Delicious?  Will it dissolve when the deal is finalized?

I guess will we have to just wait and see what will truly come out of this deal.

Duas notícias da última semana: Microsoft e Yahoo fecham acordo comercial e Twitter muda sua home page. Qual a mais importante? A julgar pelo destaque dado pela imprensa aqui e alhures, não há dúvida – é a Microhoo.

Mas não é. A mudança da home do Twitter dá de dez.

O acordo entre Microsoft e Yahoo não é complicado. O Yahoo passa a usar o sistema Bing de buscas e a plataforma de propaganda que o acompanha, tecnologias da Microsoft, em seu site. Nas contas, 88% do dinheiro arrecadado via Yahoo fica com eles. A empresa fundada por Bill Gates leva o troco e paga os custos.

O negócio faz sentido para ambos.

Números do mercado americano coletados pela ComScore em junho: Google tem 65% das buscas, seguido do Yahoo com 19,6% e Bing, 8,4%. Juntas, não chegam a dar um Google. Mas encostar na marca dos 30% do mercado faz uma enorme diferença por dois motivos.

Primeiro, melhora a qualidade da busca. Há alguns anos, o Google tinha uma tecnologia um bocado superior à de seus concorrentes. Hoje, não é tanto isso que faz a diferença. O número de cliques é que faz. Faça uma busca, leia o resumo dos resultados, clique em uma das páginas.

Aquele clique é um voto. Quanto mais pessoas buscam em um site, mais acurada é a lista de resultados porque há mais olhos selecionando os melhores. Isso chama crowdsourcing, nada mais que um nome complicado para explicar muita gente selecionando informação ao mesmo tempo.

Ou seja: a Microsoft acaba de ganhar uns 20% do público americano para melhorar a qualidade de resultados do Bing.

A segunda razão é comercial. Os anúncios são vinculados às buscas de determinadas palavras-chave. Quanto mais pessoas sua busca alcança, mais valioso é seu espaço publicitário. A dupla Microhoo ainda não dá um Google. Mas juntas valem muito mais do que separadas.

O Google acaba de ganhar um concorrente e tanto. Se o governo dos EUA não intervier justificando que o acordo é anti-competitivo, talvez seja o primeiro concorrente com poder de fazer algum estrago.

Então como pode ser a mudança na home do Twitter mais importante?

Porque ela marca os primeiros passos de uma revolução. Abra o ww.twitter.com e agora, em vez de uma página que convida o distinto leitor a ingressar no sistema, o que aparece é uma caixa de buscas. Em vez da pergunta “o que você está fazendo agora?”, uma sugestão: “Descubra o que está acontecendo neste momento em qualquer canto do mundo.”

A internet acaba de ganhar sua primeira busca em tempo real. Isto, o Google não tem.

Se ocorrer um terremoto agora, na China, a informação estará no Twitter em menos de um segundo. Passeie pela avenida Paulista e veja um foco de fumaça negra. Saque o smartphone, entre no Twitter e busque: “paulista”. Alguém terá visto o incêndio e dará sua localização exata.

Crowdsourcing novamente, numa escala muito maior e de aplicação mais relevante.

O Twitter larga à frente na busca em tempo real de notícias com apenas um concorrente possível a curto prazo. É o Facebook que, de rede social, está lutando arduamente para tornar-se uma espécie de Twitter.

Em abril, os sócios do Twitter confirmaram que houve conversas entre eles e a turma do Google. O próprio Facebook, no início do ano, se esforçou para fazer uma oferta. Ev Williams, Jack Dorsey e Biz Stone, no entanto, permanecem impassíveis. Já têm dinheiro – muito dinheiro. Não têm pressa. E estão sentados numa montanha de ouro.

Duas notícias da última semana: Microsoft e Yahoo fecham acordo comercial e Twitter muda sua home page. Qual a mais importante? A julgar pelo destaque dado pela imprensa aqui e alhures, não há dúvida – é a Microhoo.

Mas não é. A mudança da home do Twitter dá de dez.

O acordo entre Microsoft e Yahoo não é complicado. O Yahoo passa a usar o sistema Bing de buscas e a plataforma de propaganda que o acompanha, tecnologias da Microsoft, em seu site. Nas contas, 88% do dinheiro arrecadado via Yahoo fica com eles. A empresa fundada por Bill Gates leva o troco e paga os custos.

O negócio faz sentido para ambos.

Números do mercado americano coletados pela ComScore em junho: Google tem 65% das buscas, seguido do Yahoo com 19,6% e Bing, 8,4%. Juntas, não chegam a dar um Google. Mas encostar na marca dos 30% do mercado faz uma enorme diferença por dois motivos.

Primeiro, melhora a qualidade da busca. Há alguns anos, o Google tinha uma tecnologia um bocado superior à de seus concorrentes. Hoje, não é tanto isso que faz a diferença. O número de cliques é que faz. Faça uma busca, leia o resumo dos resultados, clique em uma das páginas.

Aquele clique é um voto. Quanto mais pessoas buscam em um site, mais acurada é a lista de resultados porque há mais olhos selecionando os melhores. Isso chama crowdsourcing, nada mais que um nome complicado para explicar muita gente selecionando informação ao mesmo tempo.

Ou seja: a Microsoft acaba de ganhar uns 20% do público americano para melhorar a qualidade de resultados do Bing.

A segunda razão é comercial. Os anúncios são vinculados às buscas de determinadas palavras-chave. Quanto mais pessoas sua busca alcança, mais valioso é seu espaço publicitário. A dupla Microhoo ainda não dá um Google. Mas juntas valem muito mais do que separadas.

O Google acaba de ganhar um concorrente e tanto. Se o governo dos EUA não intervier justificando que o acordo é anti-competitivo, talvez seja o primeiro concorrente com poder de fazer algum estrago.

Então como pode ser a mudança na home do Twitter mais importante?

Porque ela marca os primeiros passos de uma revolução. Abra o ww.twitter.com e agora, em vez de uma página que convida o distinto leitor a ingressar no sistema, o que aparece é uma caixa de buscas. Em vez da pergunta “o que você está fazendo agora?”, uma sugestão: “Descubra o que está acontecendo neste momento em qualquer canto do mundo.”

A internet acaba de ganhar sua primeira busca em tempo real. Isto, o Google não tem.

Se ocorrer um terremoto agora, na China, a informação estará no Twitter em menos de um segundo. Passeie pela avenida Paulista e veja um foco de fumaça negra. Saque o smartphone, entre no Twitter e busque: “paulista”. Alguém terá visto o incêndio e dará sua localização exata.

Crowdsourcing novamente, numa escala muito maior e de aplicação mais relevante.

O Twitter larga à frente na busca em tempo real de notícias com apenas um concorrente possível a curto prazo. É o Facebook que, de rede social, está lutando arduamente para tornar-se uma espécie de Twitter.

Em abril, os sócios do Twitter confirmaram que houve conversas entre eles e a turma do Google. O próprio Facebook, no início do ano, se esforçou para fazer uma oferta. Ev Williams, Jack Dorsey e Biz Stone, no entanto, permanecem impassíveis. Já têm dinheiro – muito dinheiro. Não têm pressa. E estão sentados numa montanha de ouro.

Pedro Doria – Estadao.com.br

Hi-ya JWL readers!

As I posted on my Facebook page yesterday, August 1st marks the anniversary of MTV which began broadcasting music videos in 1981. That is significant because the channel was the first of it’s kind that offered another way for you to listen to your favorite music. Of course what they’ve done to the channel in the past several years is, in the eyes of music purists and parents alike, a tragedy. But the fact is MTV showed the world that there was another medium that provided songs that the vast majority of radio listeners liked to hear. It also opened up an industry and created jobs for video creators, producers and directors and online websites where these videos could be placed and found by anyone with a half-decent internet connection. The first song MTV played for their debut was from the Buggles entitled “Video killed the Radio Star”. Prophetic, don’t you think? While the original version of the video is available on YouTube, the live version from the Prince’s Trust concert in 2004 is my favorite. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9slEfTBRXc

If you haven’t heard, Bing the new search engine from Microsoft, will be getting ads delivered by Yahoo. In an agreement between the two powerhouse companies dubbed “Microhoo”, Yahoo will provide ad placement and offer many of it’s other features, including search engine properties. Microsoft gets a real boost for it’s new search device. There’s lots of money to be made in all this. It’s still important to note that they still haven’t really fixed the issue of being able to accidently fall into unsavory sites when you’re seaching for something else, but Microsoft assures everyone it’s working on it. Here’s the story of the “deal” … http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10299021-2.html?tag=mncol;txt

Last weekend, I told you about Google Voice. The idea of getting a phone number you want tied to all your other phone numbers that includes voicemail to text, cheaper long distance calls outside the US and free calls all over the country. All for free from Google. Well, apparently Apple and AT&T don’t like the feature and have banned it from the IPhone. So, what’s a company to do about it? Enter the Federal Communications Commission who will be investigating why EVERY OTHER PHONE in the world will allow it, but not IPhone. Get where this is going? Good luck with that notion, there Apple/AT&T. I think you just lost. I like my Voice. Others who are using it do, too. Apply for your Voice here … http://www.google.com/voice

Heads up on a contest that opened just today. Kim Komando is offering Sony computer products as a back to school giveaway. You can register each day beginning today until the end of the contest which is August 31st. Here’s the link … good luck! http://school.komando.com/

Speaking of Kim, on her site this week, she features 5 Cool Effects for your Photos. One of them features the ability to put a photo on the front cover of a magazine. The magazines cover (get the pun?) a number of different topics. There are even comic book covers to choose from. Then once you’ve made your decision, you can post it free on a number of different sites including Facebook. Or spend a little money and get a full size print. It’s really clever, uh cool, how the finished product turns out. http://www.magmypic.com/

<===HuMoR===>
A young boy stopped by the corner grocery store and read his list to the clerk: “10 pounds if sugar at $1.25 a pound; 4 pounds of coffee at $1.50 a pound; 2 pounds of butter at $1.10 a pound and 2 bars of soap at 83 cents each. How much does that come to?”
“Twenty-two dollars and thirty-six cents,” replied the clerk.
“If I gave you three ten dollar bills, how much change would I get?”
“Seven dollars and sixty-four cents.”
“Thanks! That’s my arithmetic homework for tomorrow.”
(thanks, Terry)
+++++++++++++++++++++
My English teacher announced to the class; “There are two words I don’t allow in my class. One is gross and the other is cool.”
From the back of the room a voice called out, “So, what are the words?”
(thanks, Tony)
+++++++++++++++++++++
You May Have Heard This, But It’s Still Funny …
Talking Dog for Sale

He rings the bell and the owner appears and tells him the dog is in the backyard.
The guy goes into the backyard and sees a nice looking Labrador retriever sitting there.
“You talk?” he asks.
“Yep,” the Lab replies.
After the guy recovers from the shock of hearing a dog talk, he says “So, what’s your story?”
The Lab looks up and says, “Well, I discovered that I could talk when I was pretty young. I wanted to help the government, so I told the CIA and they had me sworn into the toughest branch of the armed services … The United States Marine Corps… You know one of their nicknames is “The Devil Dogs.”
In no time at all they had me jetting from country to country, sitting in rooms with spies and world leaders; because no one figured a dog would be eavesdropping.
I was one of their most valuable spies for eight years running, but the jetting around really tired me out and I knew I wasn’t getting any younger.
So, I decided to settle down. I retired from the Corps (8 dog years is 56 Corps years) and signed up for a job at the airport to do some undercover security, wandering near suspicious characters and listening in.”
“I uncovered some incredible dealings and was awarded a batch of medals.. I got married, had a mess of puppies, and now I’m just retired.”
The guy is amazed. He goes back in and asks the owner what he wants for the dog.
“Ten dollars,” the guy says.
“Ten dollars? This dog is amazing! Why on earth are you selling him so cheap?”
“Because he’s a liar! He never did any of that crap. He was in the Navy!”
(thanks, Ben)
+++++++++++++++++++++
Can you believe a candidate dropped out of the race because of a lack of campaign funds? Anyone who stops spending just because he’s out of money doesn’t belong in Washington anyway!
(thanks, Glenn)
====================
Don’t get me started with political stuff after this week, ok? Beers on the White House lawn? What’s next, slot machines? Health care for everyone (almost) but the government doesn’t have to take it? That’s like a short order cook saying, “I wouldn’t eat this slop I’m fixing”. Trade in your old clunker … oh, wait, there’s no more money for it, uh, check that, now there is. (That’s magic, isn’t it? Now you see it, now you don’t.) See, I told you not to get me started. It’s the weekend. Enjoy and I’ll be writing again next weekend. Til then, may God continue to bless you and keep you safe.

c-ya!
Jim
Jim’s WebLetter
Discover the best of the Web
C-my-site at www.jimonline.com

Yesterday I was wondering who got the better deal and according to Techcrunch, you need only look at the stock movements of Yahoo and Microsoft. Yahoo dipped 12.08% to $15.14, knocking $2.91 billion off their market cap. Microsoft gained 1.41% to $23.80, adding…$2.94 billion to their market cap.

So net/net about $30 million in new value was created yesterday by the market, All of that plus everything Yahoo lost went to Microsoft. Yahoo got Binged, to the tune of $2.9 Billion. Oops.

Read more at Techcrunch.com

Overview Of Microsoft Yahoo Deal: DEAL OVERVIEW

So who would have thunk it?   Microsoft cuts deal with Yahoo and solves Yahoo’s dilema – an aging search engine – and there own #1 issue , web advertising revenue.   This is the kind of deal that give us all pause – due to its tingly “Bill Gates” kinda feel…  this is a VERY smart move and our Google friends will really have to watch the back door… 

Badda BING Indeed, Microsoft!

In order to help the interested better understand the new Yahoo! and Microsoft deal I am passing along an official letter from Yahoo themselves.

The following is a letter I received from my Yahoo rep this morning:

Hello,

With the announcement this morning of a deal between Yahoo! and Microsoft, I wanted to reach out so you would have the latest news on the deal and how it will affect your accounts short-term.

Essentially, we pretty much know same as you do from the recent press releases and articles online. You can read a little more about the deal at the URL below.

http://yhoo.client.shareholder.com/press/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=399781

There was also a webcast this morning that you are welcome to listen to. To access the archive of this webcast, please use the URL below.

http://yhoo.client.shareholder.com/eventdetail.cfm?eventid=71395

As you can imagine, a deal like this will take some time to take effect. Not only are there the questions of migrating systems, but the government still has to approve it. For right now, it is business as usual around here. As more details become available over the next few days, I’ll be sure to keep you updated.

Thanks!

Who got a better deal? I think its 50/50 because Yahoo does not get cash and Microsoft does not take over. Today they struck a deal for a 10-year Internet-search partnership, ending a protracted dance and uniting the rivals against Google Inc.

Under the deal, Yahoo will make Microsoft’s Bing search engine the search provider on its Web sites, licensing its own search technology to Microsoft to integrate if it chooses. Yahoo will handle sales of search ads for both companies, using Microsoft’s search-advertising technology.

There is no large upfront payment from Microsoft. Instead, the agreement is a revenue-sharing pact, with Microsoft paying Yahoo 88% of the search revenue generated from its sites during the first five years of the agreement. Read more at Wall Street Journal.

Microsoft und Yahoo haben sich heute offensichtlich geeinigt: Zukünftig soll es eine Partnerschaft beider Konzerne geben, wie Microsoft-CEO Steve Ballmer heute bestätigt hat. Die Zusammenarbeit beschränkt sich allerdings ausschließlich auf die Internet-Suche.

Trotzdem kann man wohl kaum bestreiten, dass es sich dabei um einen geschickten Schachzug seitens Microsoft handelt. Immerhin wurde durch die hauseigene Suchmaschine Bing deutlich, dass Microsoft nicht nur bei Betriebssystemen die Nummer 1 sein möchte, sondern auch bei den Suchmaschinen. Durch die Zusammenarbeit mit Yahoo holt Microsoft auf und landet auf Platz 2. In den USA hat “Microhoo” damit einen Marktanteil von 30%. Google führt dort weiterhin mit 65%. Die Strategie von Microsoft ist klar: Google vom Thron stoßen! Die Zusammenarbeit mit Yahoo, der Urmutter der Suchmaschinen, ist sicherlich kein Fehler.

Denoch heißt es vorerst bangen, denn die Wettbewerbsbehörde hat das endgültige Okay zur Kooperation noch nicht gegeben. Eine Entscheidung wird bis Anfang 2010 erwartet!

Wer nun der Gewinner und wer der Verlierer bei diesem Deal ist, kann man jetzt wohl noch nicht sagen. Fest steht für mich allerdings, dass Yahoo zumindest einen Teil seiner Tradition aufgibt. Immerhin war Yahoo die erste Suchmaschine überhaupt, damals bestehend aus einem Webkatalog, der von nur 2 Studenten betreut werden konnte. Zukünftig wird zwar Yahoo (oder Microhoo, wie auch immer) drauf stehen, aber Bing (die neue Suchmaschine von Microsoft) drin sein.

Und hier gehts zur offiziellen Microsoft-Meldung diesbezüglich: Klick! Microsoft-CEO Steve Ballmer verliert auch in einem Video einige Worte über die künftige Kooperation. Das Video könnt ihr euch hier ansehen!

From/De: Microsoft

Microsoft, Yahoo! Change Search Landscape

Global Deal Creates Better Choice for Consumers and Advertisers

SUNNYVALE, Calif. and REDMOND, Wash. — 29 July, 2009 — Yahoo! and Microsoft announced an agreement that will improve the Web search experience for users and advertisers, and deliver sustained innovation to the industry. In simple terms, Microsoft will now power Yahoo! search while Yahoo! will become the exclusive worldwide relationship sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers.

For Web users and advertisers, this deal will accelerate the pace and breadth of innovation by combining both companies’ complementary strengths and search platforms into a market competitor with the scale to fuel sustained development in search and search advertising. Users will find what they care about faster and with more personal relevance. Microsoft’s competitive search platforms will lead to more value for advertisers, better results for web publishers, and increased innovation and efficiency across the Internet.

Under this agreement, Yahoo! will focus on its core business of providing consumers with great experiences with the world’s favorite online destinations and Web products.

“This agreement comes with boatloads of value for Yahoo!, our users, and the industry. And I believe it establishes the foundation for a new era of Internet innovation and development,” said Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz. “Users will continue to experience search as a vital part of their Yahoo! experiences and will enjoy increased innovation thanks to the scale and resources this deal provides. Advertisers will also benefit from scale and enjoy greater ease of use and efficiencies working with a single platform and sales team for premium advertisers. Finally, this deal will help us increase our investments in priority areas in winning audience properties, display advertising capabilities, and mobile experiences.”

Providing a viable alternative to advertisers, this deal will combine Yahoo! and Microsoft search marketplaces so that advertisers no longer have to rely on one company that dominates more than 70 percent of all search. With the addition of Yahoo!’s search volume, Microsoft will achieve the size and scale required to unleash competition and innovation in the market, for consumers as well as advertisers.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said the agreement will provide Microsoft’s search engine, Bing, the scale necessary to more effectively compete, attracting more users and advertisers, which in turn will lead to more relevant ads and search results.

“Through this agreement with Yahoo!, we will create more innovation in search, better value for advertisers, and real consumer choice in a market currently dominated by a single company,” said Ballmer. “Success in search requires both innovation and scale.  With our new Bing search platform, we’ve created breakthrough innovation and features.  This agreement with Yahoo! will provide the scale we need to deliver even more rapid advances in relevancy and usefulness.  Microsoft and Yahoo! know there’s so much more that search could be.  This agreement gives us the scale and resources to create the future of search.”

“This deal fits the long-term strategic direction of Yahoo! to remain the world’s leading online media company and Carol Bartz has the full and unanimous support of the Yahoo! Board behind this deal,” said Roy Bostock, chairman, Yahoo! Inc. “This is a significant opportunity for us. Microsoft is an industry innovator in search, and it is a great opportunity for us to focus our investments in other areas critical to our future.”

The key terms of the agreement are as follows:

The agreement does not cover each company’s web properties and products, email, instant messaging, display advertising, or any other aspect of the companies’ businesses. In those areas, the companies will continue to compete vigorously.

The transaction will be subject to regulatory review. The agreement entered into today anticipates that the parties will enter into more detailed definitive agreements prior to closing. Microsoft and Yahoo! expect the agreement to be closely reviewed by the industry and government regulators, and welcome questions. The companies are hopeful that closing can occur in early 2010.

The companies have established a website at http://www.choicevalueinnovation.com to provide consumers, advertisers and publishers with additional information about the benefits of the agreement.

Conference Call – 5:30 a.m. PDT, Wednesday, July 29

Yahoo! and Microsoft will host a conference call with Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to discuss the agreement at 5:30 a.m. Pacific/8:30 a.m. Eastern Time today.  To listen to the call, please dial 1-866-515-2908 in the U.S. and Canada; +1-617-399-5122 international, reservation number: 47968026. A live webcast of the call can be accessed through Yahoo!’s Investor Relations website at http://yhoo.client.shareholder.com/results.cfm. The companies have also established a website at http://www.choicevalueinnovation.com to provide consumers, advertisers and publishers with additional information about the benefits of the agreement. In addition, an archive of the webcast will be available through the same link. An audio replay of the call will be available for two weeks following the conference call by calling 1-888-286-8010 in the U.S. and Canada; +1-617-801-6888 international, reservation number: 91217610.

Back for its second season, the Microhoo now Binghoo search opera is still missing the protagonist  – purported higher CTR and a combined reach still won’t produce the plot’s much needed hero – Relevance.

But stay tuned searchers!

The next episode where – when and if a Microhoo / Binghoo deal happens – will produce new messaging where they proclaim Relevance performs miracles on the screen before your very eyes!

As finalization of a Microsoft-Yahoo search deal reportedly nears, activist investor Carl Icahn–who played a key role in trying to broker a broader partnership between the companies last year–is speaking out in favor of such an agreement.

“I’ve been a strong advocate of getting a search deal done with Microsoft,” Icahn, who owns about 5 percent of Yahoo and sits on its board, told Reuters in a phone interview Friday. “It would enhance value if a deal got done, because of the synergies involved.”
Icahn

According to an All Things Digital report late Thursday, several top Microsoft players–including online executives Yusuf Mehdi, Satya Nadella, and Qi Lu–are in Silicon Valley to try to finalize a search deal with Yahoo.

The report says the two sides are “down to the short strokes” after years of closely watched on-again, off-again talks. A deal could come within a week, All Things Digital said.

Icahn, for his part, wouldn’t comment on where the latest supposed negotiations between Yahoo and Microsoft stand, according to Reuters. Icahn was a central figure in Microsoft’s closely watched $47.5 billion takeover bid for Yahoo, which fell apart in November of last year.

During the negotiations, he launched a proxy fight in a bid to take over Yahoo’s board. Among his wishes was that then-CEO Jerry Yang step down. The company and Icahn eventually reached an agreement that got him a seat on the board, and the number of seats was expanded, with Yahoo appointing two new members from Icahn’s slate of candidates.

Since the full-out acquisition fell through, both Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and current Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz have indicated they are open to some sort of a search deal.

As my CNET News colleague pointed out, with Microsoft’s Bing getting some good reviews and Microsoft having billions in cash on hand, the pieces would seem to be in place, if both sides have the will to make it happen.

Microsoft seems to really want to make a deal with Yahoo! at least that is my best guess since Steve Ballmer cannot seem to stop bringing up the idea of a Yahoo!-Microsoft partnership of some kind. Of course the real question is what would either of them really gain? On a search deal alone Microsoft has a lot to gain but what would Yahoo! get out of the deal? Nothing to much besides hopefully some extra money from Microsoft but at the expense of their already dwindling Market Share and most likely it would turn into an attempt by Microsoft to eventually actually acquire the company. I don’t Yahoo! has to do this but at the same time if Yahoo! can make a search deal but keep it more beneficial for them and not turn into Microsoft’s puppet it might help them. But really Yahoo! I think can do fine alone. Microsoft has never been able to gain in the search market and Yahoo! though shrinking I think can eventually come back and beat Google I mean their searches are already looking better then Google’s sometimes (Google’s search results are getting worse it seems).

Links:

• pcmag.com

Yes, it’s true: the Microsoft/Yahoo saga continues. Over a year after the initial buy out offer, and all thedramathatfollowed, Microsoft is still trying to flirt with Yahoo.

It’s kinda sad, really—like watching your extremely inept friend, er, acquaintance making a pass at someone who’s obviously not interested. Now, we all have different opinions over whether Yahoo should be interested, but right now it looks like they’re not. Really, really not. Which makes Microsoft COO Kevin Turner sound every bit as desperate and pitiable as said acquaintance when he tells the Times Online:

We’ve certainly made [Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz] aware and the Yahoo! board aware that if they are ever interested in an opportunity to partner with them on search, we’d like to sit down and at least have the conversation.

Ah yes, the “If you’re interested, I’m interested,” talk. Joy.

In all, though, this kind of backhanded flirting is probably not such a good idea right now. Microsoft is internally testing “Kumo,” the code name for its next search interface update. Is it really a good time to be out publicly admitting that “Hey, we’d be more than happy to throw in the towel and get behind another brand” (because, please, Microsoft, PLEASE don’t tell me you’d toss out the strong Yahoo brand for the very muddy Microsoft/MSN/Live/Kumo? brand!), or “Hey, our crawlers and index aren’t so hot, so we’d like yours”?

But you know what? I protest too much. One plus of this ongoing saga: I always have something to get snarky about.

How do you want it all to end? (Or do you just want it to all end!?)

Psst! Marketing Pilgrim is giving away an Amazon Kindle 2 book reader!

While thinking about commenting on another blog regarding all the blather about how this company or that company will kill Google and its lead in the search space, I believe I stumbled upon the perfect Google killer: Microhooter!

Combined or by reputation alone couldn’t Microsoft’s desktop monopoly, Yahoo’s display ad business and Twitter’s mass texting be enough to derail Google’s money making search engine?

Maybe in theory but not in practice.

No, not even Microhooter! will save the day.

The search audience is an army of one – one billion people online that is – an army which will continue to march where it can find and get the answers it needs when and where they are needed.

With or without a Microhooter, for the time being and for the foreseeable future that place will remain Google.

You can go back to work now.