Yahoo says move to Microsoft’s search engine marketing platform a priority

The long-awaited integration of Yahoo and Microsoft’s search engine marketing and technology is underway and rapidly progressing, according to a new post on the Yahoo! Search Marketing blog.

Since gaining approval from regulators in the US and the EU, workers at Microsoft and Yahoo! have been apparently been “working diligently to bring [the] search alliance to life”. Under the much discussed deal, Microsoft’s Bing search engine will replace Yahoo’s search engine technology and manage PPC marketing platforms on both engines, whilst Yahoo will take responsibility for affiliate revenues and advertising sales. For advertisers, the immediate practical concern will be the shift to Microsoft’s PPC platform, AdCentre – their rival to the AdWords system.

Naturally, making this “search alliance” a reality rather than a legal agreement will take time and a lot of work. The new post on the Search Marketing blog has provided on update for the search engine marketing industry on how this work is proceeding.

According to the post, the “top priority” for the new partners is to “make [advertisers] transition to AdCentre as smooth as possible.”

Hoping to reassure those worried about the possible disruptions that the transition could cause to their advertising campaigns, Yahoo has explained its plans in more detail. Firstly, it will “protect the holiday period,” at least in the US and Canada; given the importance of the holiday season to advertisers, Yahoo says it aims to complete the transition in the North American market by the start of the 2010 season in late Autumn.

Secondly, Yahoo reassures advertisers that it will “ensure a quality transition”; effectively, if it won’t go smoothly before the holiday period, the transition will be deferred until the “early part of 2011.” Thirdly and lastly, Yahoo says it intends to offer a “window-of-time” for advertisers to make the transition from the old search engine marketing platform to the new. This ‘window’ will be several weeks in late summer if all goes according to plan.