(So this is sort of nerd information, but also is relevant to businesses trying to get more of a presence online.  I’ll also mention just a little bit of history of search as well so don’t be alarmed if you get bored out of your skull from this post.)

Our friends over at Search Engine Land just released some information letting us know that pending approval from the US Department of Justice there could be a deal that would put Google’s search results into Yahoo! search results! Which is crazy, but also interesting in the fact that if you are ranking well on Google, more than likely you will be ranking just the same in Yahoo, depending on the query.  Now SEO’s have seen this be reflected before, and mostly only pay attention to Google’s rankings as they have the highest market share in search, but this is pretty nice too.

Yahoo! just had their earnings report and that was where this new deal was revealed. Which has a lot of confusing language and is a little hard to completely understand, not to mention that the confusion gets even more wacky when you think that, already Yahoo! has a deal with Microsoft to share the same search algorithm and have a contract working with each other. It was very much like they were joining forces to fight the powerhouse that is Google and somehow possibly contend in the search arena.  If you are a nerd like me, you’ll remember that earlier this year this partnership was actually renewed in April. So how does this trifecta of search work out now?

Well Bing is contracted to have 51% of the ad market share on Yahoo!, which is for paid ads. The remaining 49% can be used by Yahoo! or any 3rd party of their choosing.  They were testing out Google’s system back in July and seemed to like how the results were going.

Yahoo Almost Owned Google

Something also that not many people know is back in the late 90’s when Google was just in its infancy, Larry Page and Sergey Brin were trying to get their foot in the door with larger companies, and were actually trying to get Yahoo! to purchase their algorithm! They were laughed out the door, as Yahoo! was the powerhouse of search at the time, and had no interest in using an alternative to what they currently were using.  If only they could go back in time and change their minds about that decision now.  Of course at the time they had no idea how huge Google would become, but still it is interesting to think about. You never know what kind of opportunities you can miss out on if you aren’t willing to take a real look at it and consider it.

What the new deal will entail

Well this deal will allow Yahoo! to use the Google algorithm in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of South America.  Europe is out of this deal as there is an anti-trust action happening with Google in Europe so that is why. Also it is interesting to know that Yahoo! doesn’t have to use Google’s algorithm if they don’t want to, there is no guarantee that they will use it, it just gives them the option.

Conclusion

For us, we believe this is very important to know and again is a confirmation to use the proper methods and strategies to rank well Google. And this will be reflected even more on other search engines now, so if you are wanting to learn more about what is going to be best for your website please contact us. We will be happy to help you create a better site and increase sales and conversions for your business.