Google to start advertising on Yahoo sites from 11 October

18 September 2008

Google CEO Eric Schmidt announced at a press conference that Google would start putting search ads on Yahoo's site from 11 October 2008 as agreed with Yahoo even as US regulators have not completed reviewing the controversial pact.

Although Google did not require government approval to move ahead with the deal, it had given regulators four month time to look at the deal to see if they met with US antitrust laws and ''To delay any longer would be to lose money, time is money in our business'' he said.

Under the four-year deal announced in June, Yahoo would get a portion of what advertisers paid Google for ads that appear with Yahoo search results. According to estimates the deal would generate for Yahoo about $250 million to $450 million during its first 12 months and up to $800 million annually thereafter.

Schmidt blamed rival Microsoft for raising opposition to the deal, which is now being reviewed by the European Commission as well as the Justice Department, Canadian authorities and nearly a dozen states attorneys general.

Microsoft earlier had tried unsuccessfully to buy Yahoo with an eye on its online search engine.

Since Google and Yahoo combined control more than 80 per cent of the fast growing U.S. market for advertising related to Internet searches, the deal raised competitive concerns.