Yahoo Denied Request To Delay Bing Search Partnership In Hong Kong, Taiwan

Yahoo has been denied a request to delay Microsoft's Bing search in Taiwan, something that is required under a partnership the company has with Microsoft. The reason cited was the upcoming Microsoft CEO shift, with Yahoo's CEO Mayer wishing to delay the search in Hong Kong and Taiwan until Microsoft appointed a new chief executive for her to discuss the matter with.

The search partnership was formed between Microsoft and Yahoo before Mayer's position at the helm of the company, and was a dual-effort to take down Google a notch or two from its search engine pedestal. Such efforts have proved futile, however, and Yahoo wants to discuss the partnership with Microsoft, according to a court filing. The reason wasn't specified.

U.S. District Judge Robert Patterson Jr. did not agree with Yahoo's request, however, and turned the company down. Initially, an arbitrator had ruled in favor of Microsoft, and this latest move upholds that ruling. Thus far, neither of the companies have commented on the ruling. Though Yahoo's reasons for wanting to delay the partnership wasn't specified, it isn't hard to imagine why.

Yahoo's CEO Mayer has been quoted as saying: "We need to see monetization working better because we know that it can and we've seen other competitors in the space illustrate how well it can work." Thus far, the partnership hasn't proven fruitful for the company, which hasn't seen any significant increase in its market share from the deal.

SOURCE: Reuters