The much speculated and anticipated search deal between Yahoo (more info) and Microsoft (more info) is now official and out. They have issued a joint press release today outlining their agreement whose term is for 10 years with both focusing on their core strengths. Microsoft is going to power the Yahoo search with new Bing (more info) search engine while Yahoo will become the sales force for both companies. Bing has already shown that it has a thing to compete with the giant Google (more info) and this deal will give Bing a close to 30% of market share. The companies have already launched their Website called ChoiceValueInnovation.com to showcase the benefits of the agreement to consumers, publishers and advertisers. But as expected each company will maintain its own separate display advertising business and sales force and continue to compete in this area This agreement would definitely provide a much needed momentum to Bing in terms of traffic as large scale traffic is mandatory in order to learn what people search for. I cant say for now that whether this move would eat away Google’s market share but without doubt this will be good for consumers as competition is always healthy. But I continue to doubt who will benefit more from this deal Yahoo or Microsoft?

Follow-Up

GigaOM: Yahoo, Microsoft Ink Search Deal by Jordan Golson

ReadWriteWeb: It’s Official: Microsoft and Yahoo Announce Search Deal by Frederic Lardinois

TechCrunch: Microsoft-Yahoo  Search Deal: The Most Important Facts (And Some Opinion) by  Robin Wauters

The Business Insider: Yahoo-Microsoft Deal Finally Done, Seems Lousy For Yahoo by Henry Blodget

Digits: Yahoo: ‘We Face a Formidable Competitor’ by Andrew LaVallee