Yahoo Japan to switch to Google's search engine …

TOKYO (July 28 2010): Yahoo Japan, Japan's largest Internet portal operator, will adopt Google's

search engine, refusing to follow Yahoo Inc in choosing Microsoft as a partner. Yahoo Japan, which currently uses Yahoo Inc's search technology, and Google together would control almost all of the search market in the word's second-biggest economy.

The deal stands in stark contrast to the decision by Yahoo Inc, which owns roughly one-third of Yahoo Japan, to integrate its search technology with Microsoft after the US government blocked a potential tie-up with Google. Yahoo Japan, which hopes the deal will strengthen its No 1 position in the domestic market, will also adopt Google's search-linked advertisement delivery system and feed its data to Google sites.

The deal was seen by some as underscoring Microsoft's weaker position in search. "If this Yahoo Japan and Google partnership works well, other search engine and portal site players all over the world may start adopting Google's technology," said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manger at Ichiyoshi Investment Management.