Microsoft and Yahoo are said to have reached a deal
The deal involves Yahoo agreeing to use Microsoft’s search engine on its Web sites, with Yahoo handling the sale of text ads that appear alongside the search results for its own sites and some of Microsoft’s, the Journal reported.
Some earlier discussions had focused on Microsoft acquiring Yahoo’s search and search advertising businesses. The new plan could serve to increase Yahoo’s share of the search ad business, the Journal reported.
The companies have reportedly been close to a deal before, with no announcement materializing. The Journal cautioned that this latest deal has yet to be signed off on by either company and could be delayed further.
Both sides have worried that a partnership combining their search businesses could run afoul of regulators, the Journal said. The companies plan to argue that combining their businesses would serve customers by strengthening competition against Google, the market leader.
The road to a deal has been a long one. The possibility that Yahoo might be open to a partnership emerged last year while Microsoft was in the midst of trying to acquire the company.
Since then it has tried to acquire Yahoo’s search business at least twice. In June it offered to pay US$1 billion for the search assets and to invest another $8 billion in Yahoo at $35 per share.
Reporters and analysts have been looking for any public signs that a deal is near. In Yahoo’s quarterly earnings call last week, CEO Carol Bartz, responding to a question, complemented Microsoft’s Bing search engine, prompting speculation that the companies were moving closer.
