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In Search Month European Edition we bring you a monthly update of European search news, with related links to full coverage. Here’s what happened in January.
Germany content owners call for investigation of Google. German newspaper publishers association (BDZV), Microsoft owned Ciao and online maps service Euro-Cities AG called the German cartel authorities to investigate Google’s [...]

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Latest comScore data for November search volume is showing a slightly unexpected result. For the second time Bing managed to beat Google in terms of total US core search volumes, while Yahoo’s search volume continues to go down.So while the total US core search volume increased from 13.2% in October to 17.8% Y/Y in November, Microsoft sites domestic core search market share increased by .4% from 9.9% in October to 10.3% in November. Likewise, Microsoft sites domestic core search volume  for October-November increased by 38.2% from Q3’s  25.8%. Comparing it with October’s core search volume, it is also up from 30.8% to 46.0%.

For Google, domestic core search market slightly increased from 65.4% to 65.6% in November. Core search volume also increased from October’s 17.4% to 21.8%. In the domestic core search for the first two months of Q4, Google’s search volume decreased from 21.1% in Q3 to 19.6% in Q4.

As for the remaining search engine:

• Yahoo! domestic core search market share dropped to 17.5% in November from 18.0% in October. Yahoo! grew November core search volume by 1.1% Y/Y, up from down 0.7% Y/Y growth in October. Yahoo!’s first 2 months of 4Q domestic core search volume growth of 0.2% Y/Y trails 3Q’s 11.6% Y/Y growth.

• Microsoft sites domestic core search market share increased to 10.3% in November from 9.9% in October. Microsoft sites grew November core search volume by 46.0% Y/Y, up from 30.8% Y/Y growth in October. Microsoft sites domestic core search volume was up 38.2% Y/Y in the first two months of 4Q, ahead of 25.8% Y/Y growth in 3Q.

• Ask Network domestic core search market share dropped slightly to 3.8% in November from 3.9% in October. Ask grew November core search volume by 10.8% Y/Y, up from 4.2% Y/Y growth in October. Ask Network domestic core search volume was up by 7.4% Y/Y in the first two months of 4Q vs. 4.5% Y/Y growth in 3Q.

• AOL November domestic core search market share declined to 2.8% from 2.9% in October. AOL November core search volume declined by 13.7% Y/Y vs. a 12.8% Y/Y decline in October. AOL domestic core search volume was down 13.2% Y/Y in the first two months of 4Q vs. a 15.4% decline in 3Q.

Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.

Bing Beats Google in November Search Volume Growth

Latest comScore data for November search volume is showing a slightly unexpected result. For the second time Bing managed to beat Google in terms of total US core search volumes, while Yahoo’s search volume continues to go down.So while the total US core search volume increased from 13.2% in October to 17.8% Y/Y in November, Microsoft sites domestic core search market share increased by .4% from 9.9% in October to 10.3% in November. Likewise, Microsoft sites domestic core search volume  for October-November increased by 38.2% from Q3’s  25.8%. Comparing it with October’s core search volume, it is also up from 30.8% to 46.0%.

For Google, domestic core search market slightly increased from 65.4% to 65.6% in November. Core search volume also increased from October’s 17.4% to 21.8%. In the domestic core search for the first two months of Q4, Google’s search volume decreased from 21.1% in Q3 to 19.6% in Q4.

As for the remaining search engine:

• Yahoo! domestic core search market share dropped to 17.5% in November from 18.0% in October. Yahoo! grew November core search volume by 1.1% Y/Y, up from down 0.7% Y/Y growth in October. Yahoo!’s first 2 months of 4Q domestic core search volume growth of 0.2% Y/Y trails 3Q’s 11.6% Y/Y growth.

• Microsoft sites domestic core search market share increased to 10.3% in November from 9.9% in October. Microsoft sites grew November core search volume by 46.0% Y/Y, up from 30.8% Y/Y growth in October. Microsoft sites domestic core search volume was up 38.2% Y/Y in the first two months of 4Q, ahead of 25.8% Y/Y growth in 3Q.

• Ask Network domestic core search market share dropped slightly to 3.8% in November from 3.9% in October. Ask grew November core search volume by 10.8% Y/Y, up from 4.2% Y/Y growth in October. Ask Network domestic core search volume was up by 7.4% Y/Y in the first two months of 4Q vs. 4.5% Y/Y growth in 3Q.

• AOL November domestic core search market share declined to 2.8% from 2.9% in October. AOL November core search volume declined by 13.7% Y/Y vs. a 12.8% Y/Y decline in October. AOL domestic core search volume was down 13.2% Y/Y in the first two months of 4Q vs. a 15.4% decline in 3Q.

Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.

Bing Beats Google in November Search Volume Growth

MSN is teaming up with the publisher of ELLE and Women’s Day to create a new online lifestyle site for women. It will launch in the first half of 2010 and will focus on style, beauty, relationships and home décor.

The news comes in the wake of the successful launch of Wonderwall.com, an entertainment portal focused on celebrity news. The site averages 9.5 million unique views a month.

“Lifestyle is one of our top priorities because of its growing popularity and strong appeal to the adult female audience and advertisers that wish to reach them. We see a great opportunity to expand on our current lifestyle offering by delivering a new experience that is unique to the broader lifestyle category,” said Scott Moore, U.S. executive producer, MSN.

I have to admit, this announcement reminds me of another certain online lifestyle site targeted to women: Yahoo! Shine.

Microsoft and Yahoo! have finalized the search agreement initially announced last July. Originally, they had planned to finalize things by late October. When they didn’t meet that deadline, they assured everyone that progress had been made.

Here’s the joint statement released by both parties:

Microsoft and Yahoo! believe that this deal will create a sustainable and more compelling alternative in search that can provide consumers, advertisers and publishers real choice, better value, and more innovation.

Yahoo! and Microsoft welcome the broad support the deal has received from key players in the advertising industry and remain hopeful that the closing of the transaction can occur in early 2010.

Now for the fun part: regulatory approval. Advertisers are largely in favor of the deal, since it would create a much stronger competitor to Google. Speaking of which, count on the folks at Google to fight this every step of the way. They’ve learned to play the game in Washington - especially since their own deal with Yahoo! failed - and have better ties to this administration than the previous one.

Of course, Microsoft has been a player in Washington for a lot longer. And there’s more concern now about antitrust and Google while antitrust talk regarding Microsoft is so Clinton-era.

Let the games begin.

I’ve just had a rather surreal afternoon, having been asked (at very short notice) to appear on Channel 4 News (the main news show on one of the UK’s 5 terrestrial broadcasters.) I was invited on the program to to discuss Rupert Murdoch’s reported plans to link up with Bing at the same time as [...]

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The American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) has written an open letter to the U.S. Department of Justice, urging them to approve the Microsoft-Yahoo! search deal. Announced at the end of July, the deal has Microsoft and Yahoo! partnering up on search in order to create what will become the number 2 search service in the United States.

In the letter (PDF), Nancy Hill, President and CEO of the AAAA, wrote:

These benefits are too important to wait for. As leading members of the advertising and marketing services industry, we urge the Department of Justice to bring its antitrust review to a speedy conclusion. This proposal enhances competition, and should be allowed to take effect as soon as possible.

CEOs of four ad agencies added their John Hancocks to the letter:

• Maurice Levy, chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe
• Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP
• Michael Roth, chairman and CEO of Interpubic Group
• John Wren, president and CEO of Omnicom Group

Analysts have predicted the regulatory approval process would be lengthy. But with the changes in the advertising industry over the past few years in addition to the current global economic uncertainty, it’s no surprise that agencies are seeking a quick resolution in this matter.

Per Boomtown, Seth Dallaire has joined Yahoo! as vice president of mid-market sales, a new position. Dallaire will be responsible for mid-market search and display ad sales. Dallaire was previously a top ad exec at Microsoft.

This past year, the trend has been Yahoo!s jumping ship for Microsoft. Qi Lu, Sean Suchter, and Scott Moore are among the many former Purple People now working hard for the money at the Redmond-based software giant.

Steve Ballmer, after addressing Britain’s CBI business lobby organization, said that search acquisitions were unlikely to be part of the strategy to knock Google off its rocker, according to Reuters.

The clarification came after a false press release last week announced an acquisition of Local.com by the software giant.

Local.com was quick to shoot down the news, with the following statement:

Local.com Corporation today commented that a false press release was issued that stated Local.com was being acquired by Microsoft. The company has not been acquired, nor is it in discussions with Microsoft about a potential acquisition.

Microsoft has filed a document with the SEC showing that top executives at the software giant have received pay cuts. Basically, some millionaires are making a few million less than they normally would.

In related news, Kleenex was having a hard time moving tissue boxes off the shelves this week.

Meanwhile, Steve Ballmer released a 1,300 word dissertation on his thoughts regarding the “new normal” which is translating into the “new efficiency.” Basically, people are saving more and spending less. You would think that would translate into a lower Windows 7 price, but somehow I doubt that’s gonna happen.

Instead, Ballmer talked about how upgrading to Windows 7 will save companies money in the long run. Pay now, benefit later. That must have been the theme for those pay cut conversations with the execs as well.

Antitrust regulators in Washington have requested more information from Microsoft and Yahoo! regarding their recently announced search deal. Announced in July, the deal would have Bing powering search on Yahoo!’s web properties, including Yahoo!’s main search. In turn, Yahoo! would run advertising, though adCenter would still be used as the paid search platform.

Regulators are primarily concerned about two areas: competition and advertising. They’re worried that the deal won’t be good for competition. And they want to see that ad prices won’t be artificially influenced as a result of the deal.

Of course, the argument for the deal is that combining the number 2 and 3 search engines into one provides a stronger competitor against Google, which holds upwards of 70% of the search market share. The result of a stronger 2nd place could help lower prices in the search ad market.

Daily Finance, an AOL site, is reporting that Microsoft’s lobbyists hold weekly meetings where the discussion revolves around taking on Google. In attendance are consultants and others who oppose Google. The meetings have become known as “screw Google” meetings by DC insiders.

I used to work in politics. I used to work in DC. These type of meetings happen all the time, in all sorts of industries and with all sorts of issues. It’s not a Microsoft or Google thing. It’s not a Democrat or Republican thing. It’s a politics thing.

Google lobbyists meet to discuss Microsoft, I would assume. If they don’t, then Google should fire them for being crappy at their job.

Move on, there’s nothing to see here. Just politics as usual in the nation’s capital.

The search engine landscape has already changed since Microsoft released Bing: all SEOs expected the unexpected; we all knew that Bing was just the first step towards something bigger, louder, and in the end more significant. Microsoft didn’t disappoint – the latest deal with Yahoo has already stirred controversy in all SEO circles.

The pondering just started: is the deal a threat to Google?

“We’re more nervous about making sure we stay focused ourselves rather than what the competition does.” - Google’s Tim Armstrong said in 2008, in an interview about a possible Microsoft/ Yahoo merger. Will he say the same thing today, knowing that together Microsoft and Yahoo share 30% of the search market? Will he make the same statement when everyone knows that Google is losing money (proof the last AOL stake move)?

These questions concern more the SEO community and the investors than they do the users, who generally believe that the “unexpected” deal between Google’s main competitors will not change their search habits. Bing did not bring ground-breaking technology to search – all it brought was a different way to categorize results, probably copied from hakia or Kayak, but this is beside the point.

As far as how does the Microsoft/Yahoo deal change SEO, there are at least two important aspects we cannot ignore:

• Bing will be the exclusive search engine for all Yahoo sites for the whole duration of the agreement (which is 10 years).
• Microsoft will also have exclusive access to Yahoo’s core search technologies and will also have the ability to integrate these technologies into its existing platforms if necessary.

Based on the information above, the following conclusions are a no brainer:

• SEO for Bing is worth the effort. Bing’s results are different from what Google and Yahoo display now, somehow “richer” in displaying a variety of results for a given query. With Bing powering Yahoo search we can assume that this way of serving search results will probably be adopted by Yahoo too.
• We cannot be sure if Yahoo’s local search is part of the deal, but if it is Bing will have a lot to gain. Since Bing is serving local listings in the search results it becomes vital for companies to be listed in Bing’s local listing center. This does not impact businesses outside the US just yet, but it is still an important SEO pointer for the future.
• Based on personal experience, it is a mistake to ignore Bing Webmaster Tools – if you don’t have an account there you are probably missing a lot of Bing traffic. Unless you want to ping Bing each time you publish new content it is advisable to submit a sitemap to Bing via Bing Webmaster Tools.

  To ping Bing simply follow the formula:

  http://www.bing.com/webmaster/ping.aspx?siteMap=[your sitemap web address]

  Other important data you could gather from Bing Webmaster Tools: filter backlinks by top-level domain, subdomain or subfolder and filter outbound links by top-level domain, subdomain or subfolder. Bing also offers a tool that helps you see how your site performs in search results for searches using specific keywords. Comparing the data from Bing Webmaster Tools to Google you can also learn how the two search engines see your site. This will give you the tools to plan better SEO strategies for the two.

• With Yahoo out of the search spectrum, Yahoo site explorer may go away too. This was an important tool to gather link information for SEOs. Many SEO tools that relied on Yahoo for link data will break too – so SEOs will face new challenges when it comes to link research.
• Last but not least, MSN AdCenter will probably get more attention from advertisers in the US (where the impact of the deal is the strongest) as an alternative to Google AdWords. Microsoft ads already provide for better conversions than Google ads, but this is the first time Google actually faces serious competition in this field. 30 % of the market doesn’t sound like much, but it can soon become a threat if Microsoft proves that it can serve ads that have better quality and relevancy, and more importantly higher conversions.

This is what Google should fear. As far as SEO for Bing is concerned, in relation with PPC advertising, remember that any PPC campaign is pointless if a site is not built to sell: we are talking design, content, and usability, of course. As a final note, take into consideration the fact the Yahoo is still the most visited site in the world. A Bing search bar on such a site is in effect more popular than Google itself, or at least potentially. It appears as if MS is not as dumb as they pretend to be most of the time.

Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.

Microsoft/ Yahoo Deal Already Reshaping SEO

Microsoft and comScore are teaming up to create a new digital ad planning tool. Dubbed the Reach and Frequency Planner, the tool will enable advertisers to predict reach, frequency and audience composition at the ad placement level. Audience measurement will combine ad serving data from Microsoft with demographic information from comScore.

After the ad is placed, tracking will be enabled to see how closely the end result reflected the prediction.

Ultimately, the Reach and Frequency Planner is designed to measure branding efforts in digital advertising.

“The perception that traditional branding metrics are not possible or meaningful for digital media is misguided,” said Scott Howe, corporate vice president of the Advertiser and Publisher Solutions group at Microsoft. “We believe online advertising won’t maximize its appeal to brand marketers until the basic metrics they’ve relied on for years are available in digital media plans. This requires the cooperation of digital publishers and panel measurement organizations, which our collaboration with comScore will accomplish.”

One aim of the tool is to help which demographic opportunity is best. If you’re reaching women aged 18-34, will an opportunity to get 10 million impressions on one group of placements perform better or worse than another group that gets 5 million? The tool will help you decide. In the end, this should help advertisers with budgeting issues as well.

“Brand advertisers need the ability to evaluate reach and frequency by audience composition in ways that are actionable and accountable,” said Gian Fulgoni, comScore chairman and co-founder. “Current online reach and frequency metrics are typically computed at the site level. Measuring reach and frequency at the ad placement level is more precise because it shows the reach of the ad campaign that can actually be achieved, the true potential frequency and the specific demos of that audience.”

All of this will help digital marketers gain street cred with execs who are attached to traditional advertising measurement methods.

” This new hybrid approach to digital media planning offers the granular campaign-level analysis and streamlined planning capabilities upon which brand advertisers have long relied in the traditional media environment,” added Fulgoni.

The Reach and Frequency Planner will immediately open to a closed beta.

Here at Search Engine Watch, we wanted to reach out to the search community to get their reaction to the long-awaited search deal between Microsoft and Yahoo! Not surprisingly, marketers, search engine representives, and agencies had a lot to say on the matter. Below you’ll find their initial reactions to this morning’s announcement.

The deal is good for marketers and advertisers

Most agree with Search Engine Watch editor Kevin Newcomb, who earlier wrote today that the MSFT-YHOO deal is good for advertisers.

Ted Shergalis, co-founder and chief strategy officer of [x+1] thinks the deal raises the profile of search marketers, who, on the flip side, must be diligent in learning the terms of the deal as they unfold.

Ultimately i think it makes SEMs more relevant. Now, instead of doing the bulk of the work on each search engine, search marketers will now need to dedicate a bulk of time understanding new Bing/Yahoo! environment. At [x+1], we specialize in display, landing pages, and website personalization, so it will be interesitng to see if different type of user is coming through using the new Bing/Yahoo!

Brian Lewis, vice president at Engine Ready, emphasized the need for this type of improvement for search marketers, while recognizing the difficulty of capturing additional market share, which requires habitual change.

Although many specifics remain to be disclosed, my initial thoughts are that this alliance is just what the search industry needed to continue to provide improvements in the search experience for users as well as an advertising medium that offers profitable returns for savvy marketers. I think one of the biggest challenges for Yahoo/Microsoft will be changing user habits of automatically jumping to Google for search, and slowing the perception that Google and search have become synonymous.

Not an alternative to Google

Combining the number 2 and number 3 search engines may help advertisers in terms of traffic, but will the search landscape truly change? Other search engines know that to truly make waves in search, you need to provide value to searchers, which is not a guarantee in this deal.

Dr. Tomasz Imielinski, executive vice president of technology at Ask.com hints that their could be room for other players to move ahead while Microsoft and Yahoo! spend time implementing the terms of their deal.

This news is a solid indication that the search market is healthy and growing across the board, and a core foundation of the online medium. But as far as Microsoft and Yahoo are concerned, the primary focus for both for 2009 and into 2010 will need to be on search integration - and not on search innovation. At Ask, our core focus will continue to be innovating for success by putting consumers - and search products - first.

Ryan Hardy and Dan Giulvezan , Co-founders of Unurthme, echo that sentiment.

Everyone in the search industry has the same thing on their to-do list: beat Google. At Unurthme, we believe the more significant opportunity is to add value and innovation to search, thereby delivering users a superior search experience.

SEW Expert and WebCertain CEO Andy Atkins-Krüger thinks its a good time for smaller search engines to partner up with Google or Microsoft.

This deal is the best of both worlds. It creates a stronger competitor for Google, and an opportunity for regional search engines - such as Baidu, Yandex and Seznam - also to enter the fray thanks to the distraction this will create for Google and the negotiating position it opens up with them to partner with Microsoft or Google.

hakia CEO Dr. Riza Berkan thinks that Google has nothing to worry about, at least from this deal.

Our perspective is this deal does not really change anything from the search precision point of view. We think that Yahoo! is actually more precise. From the business point of view, it will create more advertising opportunities, since the share will be at 30%. The advertisers will feel better because the exposure is wider. But as for business as usual, I don’t think there’s a significant change. The search problem is still there and google is still dominating. this won’t make a big diffference.

hakia, of course, employs Yahoo! search technology. Will this deal harm the semantic search engine? Berkan says no.

We don’t rely on it. It helps us, but from what i have read so far, those services will be intact. But even if it wasn’t, it really won’t affect us at all.

It’s natural for competitors to challenge the idea that the deal will work, but they’re not alone. Vern Rowe, client strategy manager at OneUpWeb wonders if innovating existing search is even the answer. Perhaps the efforts seen lately in social media are the true future of search?

The Microsoft/Yahoo! deal is interesting from many aspects. Is it really about partnering to battle an adversary, or are we perhaps seeing a glimpse into a struggling profit center at Microsoft and a new Yahoo perspective that search is a dying technology (time to move on to the next thing-maybe social)? Whatever cord finally struck to get these two together, it might be a long road ahead of them with the Department of Justice before the deal is done. Then, if and when it gets cleared, there will most likely be another several months before there is a significant change from an advertiser’s perspective.

So, you’re telling me there’s a chance?

Still, there are a few optimists out there who know what Microsoft and the technology community are capable of. Underdogs have been known to upset giants before.

Ben Saren, Co-Founder and CEO of CitySquares thinks perserverance is the answer.

Microsoft is taking some hard swings at Google and its just a matter of time until they make contact. Their most dominant days may not be in their past, rather coming very shortly. This kind of competition is entirely necessary and is ultimately going to be a very good thing for search and its cottage industries. Seems to me that the battle drums in the search wars are growing louder and more intense.

Joshua Palau, vice president of the search engine marketing office at Razorfish (an interactive ad agency acquired by Microsoft in 2007) sees an opportunity ripe with potential for Microsoft now.

I think it now sets up MSFT to do what Yahoo failed at - combine search and display in an advertiser friendly way. With 30% search share and a boatload of impressions that can leverage BT, MSFT now becomes a more compelling option.

A wide sentiment is that Yahoo! has given up on search. According to Mark Kelly at Chair 10 Marketing, Yahoo! may have given up a long time ago, and getting rid of the dead weight might just be the ticket for Microsoft.

Yahoo stopped improving its pay-per-click platform, while Microsoft and Google have continued to improve. Advertisers need a stronger competitor to counter-balance Google’s power, and Yahoo and Microsoft on their own weren’t providing that. With this increased search traffic, Microsoft has a much better shot at competing effectively.

Rick Kahn, CEO of eZanga, thinks combining the technologies will inject fresh ideas into the search industry.

Well it’s about time. By pairing up and using each other’s technology, I believe Microsoft and Yahoo are going to have what it takes to slowly close the gap between their companies and Google. The old saying of ‘Two heads are better than one’ will be hard at work, as both Yahoo and Microsoft have some interesting technologies. I think by using Yahoo’s system, but adding the new traffic available at Bing, it’s going to be a winning combination for both companies. By putting them together there can be some interesting synergies created and new functionality that can benefit people searching as well as advertisers. I look forward to tracking the results of this deal over the upcoming months and years.

What is YOUR reaction to the Microsoft-Yahoo! deal? Continue the conversation by leaving a comment below.

So, I’m sure you’ve already about the Microsoft-Yahoo deal. If you haven’t, check out the news stories and blog posts below:

It’s Official: Microsoft and Yahoo! Finally Strike Search Deal

It’s official: Microsoft-Yahoo ink 10-year search pact

Microsoft-Yahoo Search Deal: The Most Important Facts (And Some Opinion)

But if you want to figure out what MicroHoo means for your search engine marketing campaign, including your search engine optimization and pay per click advertising programs, then Search Engine Strategies San Jose 2009 is a must-attend event. It was already the right place to be and August 10-14 was already the right time to be there. But now it is the hottest ticket in town.

For example, you might want to attend the session entitled, “Don’t Call it a Comeback: Semantic Technology and Search.” Among the speakers who will be there for Q&A are: Othar Hansson, Software Engineer, Google, Kevin Haas, Senior Engineering Manager, Yahoo!, Mark Johnson, Program Manager, Bing, and Dr. Tomasz Imielinski, EVP, Global Search & Answers, Ask.com. I imagine they are all busy preparing for the event.

Or, there’s the session entitled, “SEO Tools of the Trade: What’s in YOUR Toolbox?” Among the speakers are Rajesh Srivastava, Principal Group Program Manager, Bing, and David Roth, Director of Search Marketing, Yahoo!, Inc. Will they play nicely and share the same advice?
Or, there’s the session entitled, “Keeping it Local: The Convergence of Phones & Local Search.” Among the speakers are Josh Siegel, Product Manager, Mobile Local Search, Google, and Justin Jed, Group Product Manager, Bing Mobile. Will we see the SES version of PubCon’s Search Engine Smackdown?

Or, there’s the session entitled, “Keywords & Content: Search Marketing Foundations.” Among the speakers are Marc Canabou, Senior Director, Product Management Leader, Yahoo! Search Advertising, and Ari Levenfeld, Manager Client Services, Ask Sponsored Listings. Do you think they are updating their presentation as you are reading this?

Or, there’s the session entitled, “Credit Crunch: The Death of Last Click Attribution and its Impact on Paid Search Advertising.” Among the speakers is Mark Grote, Sr. Search Advertising Manager , Microsoft. Do you think you should be taking notes?

Or, there’s the session entitled, “Duplicate Content & Multiple Site Issues.” Among the speakers are Greg Grothaus, Search Quality Team, Google, Sasi Parthasarathy, Program Manager, Bing, Ivan Davtchev, Lead Product Manager, Search Relevance, Yahoo! Search. The moderator may need to keep this from turning into a tag-team wrestling event.

Or, there’s the sponsored session entitled, “Bing Toolbox: Your One-Stop Shop for Better ROI.” The speakers are Rajesh Srivastava, Principal Group Program Manager, Bing, and Alessandro Catorcini, Senior Program Manager, Bing. This has just become a must-attend session.

Or, there’s the afternoon keynote by Nicholas Fox, Business Product Management Director, AdWords, Google. I wouldn’t skip this one, if I were you.

Or, there’s the session entitled, “The BuyerSphere Project: Understanding B2B Buyer Patterns.” Among the speakers is Mark McMaster, Senior Planner of B2B and Technology Markets, Google. This was a must-attend session already, but now you will really need to run, not walk, to get a good seat.

Or, there’s the session entitled, “Real World Multivariate Testing.” Among the speakers is Trevor Claiborne, Product Marketing Manager, Google. What new messages will he be testing at this event?

Or, there’s the session entitled, “Ads in a Quality Score World.” Among the speakers are Tomaso Pozzi, Product Manager, Core Model & Optimization, Yahoo! Search Marketing, and Jonathan Alferness, Group Product Manager, Google. I want a ringside seat for this one.

Or, there’s the session entitled, “The New Search ROI: Measuring More than Conversion.” Among the speakers is James Colborn, Director, Microsoft Advertising, Microsoft. I know James. I’m sure he’d rather be invited to the White House for a beer with the Google guy, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. So, he may just have to make the best of it at this pivotal time in the industry.

Or, there’s the session entitled, “Images & Search Engines: Getting the Full Picture.” Among the speakers are R.J. Pittman, Director of Product Management, Google, Todd Schwartz, Group Product Manager, Bing, Microsoft Corporation, and Kaushal Kurapati, Director of Product Management, Yahoo! Search. I want photos taken of this panel discussion.

Or, there’s the session entitled, “In-House SEO: Structuring the Organization for Success.” Among the speakers is Laura Lippay, Director of Technical Marketing, Yahoo! Do you think it’s too soon to ask if Microsoft-Yahoo are structuring their organizations for success?

Or, there’s the session entitled, “Search Becomes the Display OS.” Among the speakers are Rajas Moonka, Group Business Product Manager, Google Inc., and Josh Jacobs, Vice President and General Manager, Advertising Technology, Yahoo! Inc. Oh, boy, this is going to be great.

Now, the last time that “Microsoft-Yahoo deal” was a search term was back in February 2008. Microsoft Corp. had just announced that it had made a proposal to the Yahoo! Inc. Board of Directors to acquire all the outstanding shares of Yahoo! common stock for per share consideration of $31 representing a total equity value of approximately $44.6 billion.

Since it was an unsolicited bid, nobody wanted to talk about MicroHoo when they turned up at SES London 2008 two weeks later.

But, this time the Microsoft-Yahoo deal is a done deal. So, I’m betting that everyone wants to talk about what MicroHoo means for the search engine marketing industry.

And since I was already planning to be at SES San Jose 2009, now I’m going to have to scramble to get seats in the front row.

Don’t adjust your screen folks, it’s finally official. Microsoft and Yahoo! have finally struck a search deal. No, Microsoft will not be acquiring all of Yahoo! No, Yahoo! will not be slicing off search and selling it off to Yahoo!

Under the 10 year agreement, Bing will power Yahoo! search, creating a Google competitor that last month reached a combined 28.4% of the search market share, according to comScore. Microsoft will also be able to integrate Yahoo! search technologies into its web search platform.

Meanwhile, Yahoo! will sell the search advertising for the newly combined entities. AdCenter will be the self-serving search ad platform. This will take a long time to implement as they adjust relationships with thousands of advertisers.

Display advertising will not be affected by the deal. Both companies will maintain their programs separately.

Microsoft will pay Yahoo! 88% of search ad revenues generated by Yahoo! sites. Yahoo! expects to see $275 million operating cash flow as a result of the deal.

“This agreement comes with boatloads of value for Yahoo!, our users, and the industry, and I believe it establishes the foundation for a new era of Internet innovation and development,” said Yahoo! Chief Executive Officer Carol Bartz.

Yahoo! will now focus primarily on their media sites, many of which are #1 in their categories. Sites like Yahoo! Finance and Yahoo! Sports are very popular and bring in millions of unique visitors per month.

“Users will continue to experience search as a vital part of their Yahoo! experiences and will enjoy increased innovation thanks to the scale and resources this deal provides,” continued Bartz. “Advertisers will also benefit from scale and enjoy greater ease of use and efficiencies working with a single platform and sales team for premium advertisers. Finally, this deal will help us increase our investments in priority areas in winning audience properties, display advertising capabilities and mobile experiences.”

For its part, Microsoft is finally getting what it wants: an increased search market share to take on rival Google. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer hopes that combining the resources of the #2 and #3 search engines will help innovation, which he says is needed to steal share from Google.

“With our new Bing search platform, we’ve created breakthrough innovation and features,” said Ballmer. This agreement with Yahoo! will provide the scale we need to deliver even more rapid advances in relevancy and usefulness. Microsoft and Yahoo! know there’s so much more that search could be. This agreement gives us the scale and resources to create the future of search.”

Antitrust issues will likely rear their ugly head, with Microsoft poised to seek the blessing of the DOJ. Expect Google to lobby against the deal, but keep in mind that Christine Varney, Assistant AG at DOJ Antitrust is on record saying she wants to go after Google for antitrust issues. She has also said that Microsoft antitrust issues are, like, so 1990s.

Alright, SEW readers, time to unleash your initial reaction to this deal. That’s what the comments section below is for. What do you think of this deal? Will they be able to take on Google? Do you want to use AdCenter to for search ads on Yahoo!? Let us know!

On a day when the stock market rose above 9,000 and everyone but the short sellers were in good spirits, Microsoft provided reason for pause. Their quarterly earnings were painful. Recently, Google and even Yahoo! earnings plus non-search and non-tech earnings seemed to show that perhaps the we’ve-seen-the-bottom pundits just might be right after all.

• Quarterly revenues declined 17% to $13.10 billion.
• Quarterly net income declined 29% to $3.05 billion
• Diluted earnings per share declined 26% to $0.34

Digging into the Online Services division, quarterly revenue declined 13% to $731 million. Online ad revenue decreased 14% to $529 million, primarily reflecting a decrease in display advertising. However, currency issues contributed to $28 million of the loss.

The dollar has become stronger, which affects global sales. Microsoft says foreign currency exchange rates accounted for an overall $219 million or one percentage point decrease in revenue.

What do you think of Microsoft’s earnings? Share your opinion below.