While most of us see Yahoo and Google as direct competitors, the two companies have worked together in the past and are at it again, this time testing a partnership that could see Google supply search results and advertisements to Yahoo.

The partnership, confirmed by the two companies, will not be good news for Microsoft, which currently offers search results and ads to Yahoo, having signed a 10-year contract with the company, which is now nonexclusive.

"As we work to create the absolute best experiences for Yahoo users, from time to time, we run small tests with a variety of partners, including search providers," said a Yahoo spokesperson. "There is nothing further to share at this time."

Google is the world's most used search engine, currently owning around 71 percent of the search market share worldwide. Yahoo ranks third, with only 9.6 percent market share.

Of course, this deal would not be possible without the deal between Yahoo and Microsoft being nonexclusive. The deal was first signed back in 2009 and was set to run until 2019, and while the deal will continue until then, an amendment to the deal was announced in April, offering Yahoo more "flexibility to enhance the search experience," presumably meaning that the company could shop for other ways to provide search results, such as using Google's results.

Microsoft will be especially troubled because of the fact that it has largely gained its place as second most popular search engine through partnerships, such as its partnership with Yahoo and with Facebook. It already lost its deal with Facebook back in December.

Just because the two companies are exploring possibilities, however, doesn't mean that they will come to an agreement. In 2008 the two companies attempted to put together a deal that would have seen Google ads appear on Yahoo search results, but after a number of months of regulatory issues and complaints by competitors, the deal was ended and the two companies went their separate ways.

Despite this, the fact that Yahoo has lost a significant portion of its market share since then could make a deal between the two companies more likely.

Marissa Mayer, the CEO of Yahoo, has a long history with Google, having been the head of the company's search team for a number of years. Until now, however, she has suggested that she wants to focus on building Yahoo's product offerings on its own rather than turn to her ex-employer for help.

Via: Cnet