Watch For Transition To Yahoo! Search Transition To Microsoft This Month

Back in 2009, it came as little surprise to most PPC and SEO experts that search also-rans Microsoft and Yahoo! decided to pool resources when it came to providing search services. Microsoft's Bing search engine was to become the exclusive search platform for Yahoo! services, Yahoo!'s own search being made defunct, with Yahoo! becoming the sales force for both brands' premium seach products. AdCenter would allow self-serve search advertising, with the brands retaining their own separate display ad services and sales teams

What has come as a bit of a surprise is the length of time it has taken the agreement to come to real-life fruition. As a new post over at Searchengineland, the transition will start in earnest this week, with Yahoo! search users in France, Ireland and the UK starting to see ads sourced through Microsoft's adCenter next week.

If you are still using Yahoo!'s platform in those countries, then you will need to move to adCenter, as Yahoo! accounts will start to become read-only very soon. However, Microsoft do suggest continuing to monitor both adCenter and your Yahoo! search marketing account, as there will be a transition phase between the two; as clicks in Yahoo! decline, clicks in adCenter will grow.

The switch from Yahoo! to Microsoft is supposed to start happening in the next few days, and to be finished by the end of April, with the change coming to Austria, Switzerland and Germany later in 2012.