Microsoft and Yahoo deal, so what next...

in Thursday, The US and European regulator have cleared the way Microsoft and Yahoo! to blaze on with a planned tie up aimed at taking on internet search king Google.

Paving the way for microsoft to take over the bussiness of providing search results to Yahoo while Yahoo will get to sell search ads on both Yahoo and Bing. Yahoo is busy reminding anyone who will listen that it will still control the way search results are presented on its pages, while microsoft thinks it can improve its search algorithms with access to yahoo's massive audience. it will take some time for the companies to implement the complicated deal.

The transition will involve moving Yahoo! search platforms to Microsoft, with Yahoo! running sales relations with both companies premium search advertisers global.

Google opposed a Microsoft to take over Yahoo! and had proposed it own alliance with the struggling internet firm, but backed off from the plan after it was frowned upon by the US regulator.

Analysts are divided on how much closer the Microsoft-Yahoo! tie up will take either company to google, the overwhelming leader in a web search advertising market that research firm forrester estimates will be worth more than 30 billion dollars in 2014 in the United States Alone.

" The deal combines the second and third player into one so you have a bigger number two", said analysts Rob Enderle of Enderle group in Silicon Valley.

Since the start of the year, Google has rolled out Google nexus One mobile telephone and buzz social networking at its free email service, and taken on the Chinese government over internet cencorship in that country. If Google follows through on a threat to shut down its China search engine, that would mean less competition for microsoft in market ruled by local online query service Baidu.

Microsoft and Yahoo said that they continue to work with regulators in South Korea, Taiwan and Japan, whose approval is needed for the deal to be launched in thosed countries.

Does Google care...?

it seems nonplussed by the deal, but that's mainly for show; Google will definitely watch the implementation stage to see how the combined partnership affects the search experience and advertiser interest.