MSN sticks with Overture
C|Net | at | by Mike
Yahoo's Overture Services subsidiary on Friday announced it will continue to offer commercial search links to Web rival MSN. Overture's paid search results will remain a part of MSN Search in the United States and the United Kingdom through June 2005, the company said. MSN has served as one of Overture's largest partners, contributing about a third of Overture's revenue this year.
The agreement is significant because it flies in the face of speculation that MSN would abandon this partnership for competitive reasons. Overture was recently acquired by Yahoo for $1.7 billion, putting Microsoft, which owns MSN, in an uncomfortable position with one of its biggest adversaries. The previous agreement between the companies allowed MSN to exit the relationship early in the event that Overture was acquired.