Yahoo, Microsoft ink Web search agreement

Yahoo! and Microsoft have announced that they have finalised the details of their planned Internet search and advertising partnership.

The companies hope to implement the deal next year with the approval of anti-trust regulators.

"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," the companies said in a joint statement.

"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 had originally planned to complete their agreement by October 27 but extended talks "given the complex nature of the transaction".

The plan to ink a 10-year Web search and advertising pact was unveiled in July and promises to set the stage for a Yahoo!-Microsoft offensive against Google, the king of the lucrative search and advertising market.

Under the no-cash deal, Yahoo! will use Microsoft's new Bing search engine on its own sites while Yahoo! will provide the exclusive global sales force for premium search advertisers.

Microsoft's tie-up with Yahoo! gives the companies a larger share of the Web search market but analysts are divided on how much it will actually deliver in making inroads against powerhouse Google.