Yahoo letting Google test search skills on its online properties

Yahoo! Inc said yesterday that it was testing letting Google put its online search skills to work at some of its online properties.

The exercise was aimed at determining whether letting several players handle search results or search ad placement at its websites would benefit Yahoo and its users.

According to a spokesperson, as the company worked to create the absolute best experiences for Yahoo users, from time to time, it ran small tests with a variety of partners including search providers, with Google being among those search firms.

The two companies updated their search partnership in April to allow greater flexibility in searches and end Yahoo's exclusive sales force role with advertisers.

The search partnership between Microsoft and Yahoo took effect in 2010 and was expected to last 10 years, but Yahoo had the option of exiting it midway if certain revenue conditions were not met. Yahoo's chief executive, Marissa Mayer, had repeatedly signalled that she was not satisfied.

According to projections of eMarketer, Microsoft and Yahoo combined would own 6.5 per cent of the $81.59 billion search market globally in 2015.

Google the search leader was expected to take a 54.5 per cent of the global market this year, the research firm said.

Google had earlier proposed an alliance with Yahoo back in 2008, but the deal was not allowed by government anti-trust regulators, over concerns the tie-up would stifle competition in the industry.

Any big partnership between Google and Yahoo could be expected to raise eyebrows at the Federal Trade Commission. The search giant enjoys a dominating presence with around 65 per cent of the US search market share for desktop, while Bing and Yahoo trail with 20 per cent and 13 per cent respectively.

Google is already faced with an anti-trust case in Europe, where it controls about 90 per cent of all searches.

According to commentators, an alignment between the two internet giants could not be ruled out. Yahoo does not command nearly the portion of the search market it did in 2008, and the industry had, since then, changed a lot.