We all knew it was coming. It’s now official that Microsoft will power Yahoo Search and search ads. Today both European Union and US Department of Justice have both legally approved the alliance that will see the software giant acquire the internet search and search advertising businesses of Yahoo!.

Let’s look at the facts. The top three search engines are Google, Bing (Microsoft’s search engine), and Yahoo. According to Alexa.com, about 43% of internet users use Google, 27% use Yahoo, and 22% of internet users use Bing (currently live.com has captured about 17% which redirects users to Bing, and users who access Bing directly make up 5%, adding up to 22% total). The remaining 8% of internet users either use another search engine or don’t use one at all.

King of the mountain

If you’re Google, you’re feeling pretty good right now because you’re at the top of the mountain. Your two closest competitors, Yahoo! and Microsoft, don’t have a chance to catch up to you. If you’re Yahoo! or Microsoft, it’s easy to see that you have no chance to rival the almighty Google unless of course you join forces. While Google will still have 43% of internet users, the new Microsoft Yahoo! alliance will now have 49% of internet users.

It’s hard to imagine a world where Microsoft and Yahoo become the most popular search engine in the world. Guess we will just have to wait and see what happens. May the best search engine win.

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