Jul 31 2009
By now you've probably heard or read that Microsoft and Yahoo! are combining forces. At least as far as search goes.
>In summary, Microsoft will power Yahoo Search and Yahoo will become the exclusive search advertising provider for Microsoft’s search engine, Bing. Microsoft’s AdCenter will operate self-service advertising for both companies, but each company will maintain its own separate display advertising business and sales force.
So what does that mean for us website owners and our rankings in Yahoo! Search or Bing? It's probably too early to say. And if you believe what many SEO specialists are saying (as I do), then it may actually be a good thing:
>From a traffic perspective, take a look at how well you’re indexed and ranked in Bing. That’s how well you’ll be indexed and ranked in Yahoo. What do your titles and descriptions look like in the results in Bing? That’s how things will generally look in Yahoo. This might not be a bad thing for site owners...
>
>Source: What Site Owners, Web Developers & SEOs Should Know About The Yahoo Microsoft Deal
Danny Sullivan (an authority on SEO by the way) mentions in this video from WebProNews that if your site ranks well in Yahoo! and doesn't in Bing, you probably have something to be concerned about. But, if your site ranks well in Bing and not so much in Yahoo!, this is good news.
The hookup will probably take a while to be fully implemented, especially with the feds likely keeping a close eye regarding antitrust regulations. Should it go through and not have any regulatory issues, Google probably doesn't have a lot to worry about as I don't think it'll change things up too drastically. In any case though, I do believe that if you haven't worried about ranking in Bing too much, now is the time to get on that.