DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
An e-commerce research firm said while the search partnership
between Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) can help the
companies become more competitive in the search marketplace,
chipping away at Google Inc.'s (GOOG) customer loyalty will be
difficult.
According to comScore Inc. (SCOR), Yahoo and Microsoft have an
opportunity to make marketshare headway, given that nearly
three-quarters of all searchers conduct at least one search on all
three engines every month. Those light searchers should be targeted
by the two companies, which is seen as an easier task than
converting new users.
Still, comScore said Google has the highest loyalty rate of the
three sites.
"The challenge facing a Microsoft-Yahoo combined search offering
is that choice of search engines is often a subconscious decision
on the part of the user," said Gord Hotchkiss, president and chief
executive of Enquiro Search Solutions. "For Microsoft-Yahoo to
disrupt the Google habit, they have to offer a compelling enough
reason to do the cognitive heavy lifting required to break a
subconscious habit."
Last month, Yahoo and Microsoft agreed to a 10-year search
partnership agreement, in a game-changing deal as the players look
to take on market leader Google. But analysts and advertising
executives have said Google will have plenty of time to refine its
technology and craft a counter strategy if necessary because the
complex deal will take two years to implement.
There are added concerns with whether a deal that consolidates
the search market from three main players to two would be opposed
by regulators.
Google had a 65% share of searches in the U.S. core search
market in June, according to comScore, while Yahoo and Microsoft
had a combined 28%.
-By John Kell, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2480;
john.kell@dowjones.com