Yahoo has attempted to slow down the rollout of its search deal with Microsoft, per court filings. The company will have to switch to Microsoft's Bing search engine in Taiwan within Monday, October 28.
The court filings reveal that Yahoo's Marissa Mayer endeavored to postpone the transition to 2014, questioning Microsoft's commitment.
In 2010, the Microsoft and Yahoo's Search Alliance for a period of ten years was signed, which was expected to reduce Google's dominance in search advertising. However, the latest court filings would suggest that Yahoo had tried to delay the adoption of Bing in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
While Yahoo has switched to Bing in 14 of the 16 global markets, Taiwan and Hongkong (slated for October) remain. On September 20, Yahoo had informed Microsoft that it would not transition now, but hoped to proceed with the transition in early 2014
On Monday, October 21, Judge Robert Patterson Jr ruled in Microsoft's favor, saying that Yahoo will have to adopt Bing in Hong Kong and Taiwan per the terms of the partnership. The ruling found that "breach of the agreement 'established irreparable harm to Microsoft.'"
"We had a narrow disagreement regarding the Search Alliance rollout in Hong Kong and Taiwan. We have unwavering plans to continue investing in the Search Alliance, now operating in more than 20 countries, and the Bing platform, which is central to our latest products," said Microsoft in a statement.
The court ruling hints at differences between Yahoo and Microsoft, which are widening as the two companies persevere to adapt to evolving market conditions and rethink strategies. Per the court filing, Yahoo's CEO Marissa Mayer wanted to delay switching to Microsoft's search technology in some markets till she had the opportunity to discuss the same with outgoing Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's successor.
"If we decide a new CEO has the same commitment that Steve Ballmer had, then we will go forward with the transition," Laurie Mann, Yahoo's SVP of Search Products, was quoted as testifying in the court filings.
Yahoo has time till Monday, October 28, to transition to Microsoft's Bing search platform for Hong Kong and Taiwan.
