Back in July 2009, the ball began to roll on a merger of sorts between Yahoo and Microsoft’s Bing search engines. This March the deal became more finalized and a shape began to form for what would become a joint search marketing effort. (Read our own article from January this year.)

What has happened since?  Well, not much really. However, any SEO you talk to will most likely have received countless emails regarding how it’s moving forward, how big things are happening, etc. etc.

In case you haven’t heard, the idea behind this Search Alliance is to allow Bing to power Yahoo’s organic search results, basically replacing Yahoo’s ‘search engine’ with Bing’s. In addition to this, Microsoft’s AdCenter advertising platform will eventually replace Yahoo! Advertising.

What is Yahoo! providing for their end of the deal? They are still the #3 most visited website in north america, which will provide Bing with an enormous playing field for ad impressions. In addition to that, they are providing Microsoft with their own search-technologies (albeit for a 10-year license).

The way that the transition has been handled is very PR heavy, with little effect on the users who rely on the services every day.  We still log in to Yahoo Site Explorer, Microsoft AdCenter, etc. and will continue to do so for months, until the dust settles.

Even the official website itself is not 100% certain when the full transition will take place. As a quote taken directly from the FAQ proclaims :

Our aim is a high quality transition of advertisers and partners in at least the US prior to the 2010 holiday season. However, we may wait until 2011 if we determine this will be more effective.

We will be advancing with a ‘business as usual’ attitude unless there are drastic changes. Will you be changing your SEO approach due to this new alliance? Do you think Google will have some real competition? Leave a comment, or visit us at our Facebook or Twitter pages!

2009 has been an exciting year for advances in technology, especially on the web. It continues to evolve and expand, while offering more and more relevant information to people in easier and quicker ways than we could have imagined even 1 year ago.

Below are the Top 10 technology stores as seen through the eyes of Glacier-Digital. Think we’re missing something? Let us know!

1. Microsoft launches Bing!
   Earlier this June we saw a rebirth of Microsoft’s MSN/Live search engine. They had everything setup perfectly : a snappy, unforgettable name; a seemingly endless advertising budget; and a nice clean interface. However, there is another search engine, with a rather large market share that still stands in their way. While Bing grew for a few weeks, it’s remaining rather stagnant since, while Google continues to grow. Microsoft isn’t a company that gives up often, and this brings us to #2.
2. Yahoo and Microsoft sign Search deal
   Yahoo has seen some tough times recently. Their market share has plummeted, while Google’s has soared. And instead of innovating and pushing ahead, they are simply giving up and handing their search reigns over to Microsoft. While Yahoo itself isn’t going anywhere, any searches done throughout Yahoo’s properties will utilize the Bing search engine. Read about the Microhoo deal here.
3. Microsoft releases Windows 7
   It seems like only yesterday that Vista was released! That being said, the release of Windows 7 couldn’t have come any quicker. Vista was….. not Microsoft’s best effort. With the release of Windows 7 (and it’s STILL numerous editions), it alleviated many of the issues people had with Vista, while adding some truly useful new features, such as the Aero snap and the very handy Taskbar peek. It’s snappy, easy to use and has fantastic driver support. These reasons alone make it worth checking out.
4. Google Announces Chrome OS
   If you were thinking, like many others “Pfft… what DOESN’T Google make?”, an operating system may have been on your list. Not anymore, as their Chrome OS is deep into development and should start surfacing very soon. It will be made specifically for netbooks, as it is very barebones. This was the entire point, to make a lightweight, VERY snappy environment for users to browse the web, read their email and watch the occasional video or listen to some music. It will be very exciting to see some real competition to Windows in the growing netbook market.
5. Facebook grows… and grows…..
   The phenomenon that is Facebook, continued to baffle nearly every analyst in 2009. It’s growth does not seem to be fading, as it grew from a mere 150 million users a the beginning of the year, to more than 350 million as of this month. With no real competition in sight, will it slow down any time soon? Who knows. Oh, and while we’re at it, why not visit Glacier-Digital’s Facebook page
6. Android OS finally gains some steam
   The little operating system that could, is finally gaining some ground in the ever growing smartphone market. Apple’s iPhone obviously hasn’t had much in the way of competition since its launch more than 2 years ago. Google’s Android operating system has been under development for quite a while, but this year saw it’s first real market penetration with hardware releases such as HTC’s Hero and Motorola’s Droid. With 2.0, it brings FREE GPS navigation, among other groundbreaking apps, so we can’t wait to see what happens in this incredibly competitive industry in the months to come.
7. “The Microsoft ad foible”
   Most internet news readers will no doubt know what this is referring to. It was deemed an internet meme almost instantly, as hundreds of mock ups surfaced across thousands of websites within days. The image in question (located here) was changed for reasons unknown, however I’m sure Microsoft delivered a few pink slips that day.
8. Rupert Murdoch says no to Google?
   The director of News Corp, the company that runs dozens of magazines, television channels (such as Fox), among other media companies, has deemed that Google should be denied access to his news. They plan on blocking Google’s indexers, and instead, demanding that users pay a fee for their content. It seems this initiative is rolling ahead, so we’ll have to wait and see what effect it has on the traffic for News Corp’s properties.
9. Whitehouse.gov actually gets… an update!?
   This one may not concern us to the great white north, but as we all know… the Canadian culture and society in general takes its lead, at least somewhat, from the USA. With Obama sweeping into office, the official whitehouse website received a generous upgrade, displaying the new president’s love for technology.
10. RIM’s Balsillie is officially denied.
    Ok, so this isn’t exactly technology related, but any Canadian (especially those in the western GTA area) know exactly what we’re talking about here. Hey Research In Motion makes the Blackberry right? It’s now a tech story!

You have no doubt heard the news that Microsoft and Yahoo! have joined forces to take on the ever persistent Google.

What the partnership means for Yahoo! is they will be using Microsoft’s Bing search technology for searches on their own site, in exchange for an expanded platform with which to show their ads. This will allow Yahoo! to concentrate on ads and their network of websites, which are still among the most visited on the internet.

With Microsoft’s recent launch of the search engine Bing, they need all the push they can get in order to extend the momentum of its early success. The search engine has been touted as being as good as, or better than Google and with Microsoft’s seemingly endless supply of advertising dollars, they will make sure everyone knows.

Depending on who you talk to, the joint venture will give Microhoo! approximately 28% market share, which, while still much less than Google’s 65%, is a somewhat respectable second place. Google has been increasing slowly, month over month, almost a direct opposite to Yahoo!.

This 10 year deal will not be fully realized until 2012, which is when both companies expect the full transition to be complete.

What does this mean for our clients? We will be able to focus our SEO and SEM efforts more effectively on Google/Adwords and Bing/Adcenter. What this means for the future of Yahoo! is anyone’s guess, but I believe it’s Microsoft’s foot in the door and they have some muscle they are not afraid to use, in order to get what they want. Don’t forget, Yahoo! denied a $9 billion offer from Microsoft just over a year ago for this exact same joint deal.

My bet, Yahoo! will be a very different entity by 2012. The search world just got a bit more interesting.