SUNNYVALE, Calif. & REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) announced that the companies amended their search partnership to improve the search experience, create value for advertisers and establish ongoing stability for partners. The update reaffirms commitments made by both companies in the original 2009 agreement, while implementing changes to keep the partnership strong and productive, with both companies committed to maximizing the alliance.

“Our global partnership with Yahoo has benefited our shared customers over the past five years and I look forward to building on what we’ve already accomplished together,” said Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft Corp. “Our partnership with Yahoo is one example of the diverse partnerships we’ll continue to cultivate in order to have the greatest impact for our customers.”

“Over the past few months, Satya and I have worked closely together to establish a revised search agreement that allows us to enhance our user experience and innovate more in our search business,” said Marissa Mayer. “This renewed agreement opens up significant opportunities in our partnership that I’m very excited to explore.”

The update includes improvements in two core areas. First, Yahoo will now have increased flexibility to enhance the search experience on any platform, since the partnership is non-exclusive for both desktop and mobile. Yahoo will continue to serve Bing ads and search results for a majority of its desktop search traffic.

Second, the update increases agility and sales focus. Microsoft will become the exclusive salesforce for ads delivered by Microsoft’s Bing Ads platform, while Yahoo will continue to be the exclusive salesforce for Yahoo’s Gemini ads platform. Integrating the sales teams with those responsible for engineering will allow both companies to service advertisers more effectively. Microsoft and Yahoo plan to begin to transition managed advertiser sales responsibilities this summer.

The partnership, formed in 2009 by both CEOs’ predecessors, established a transformative relationship between the two companies -- one where Microsoft exclusively provided paid and algorithmic search services on PC to Yahoo. The alliance also designated a revenue sharing agreement where Microsoft pays Yahoo a percentage of Bing Ads revenue delivered from Yahoo searches. This existing underlying economic structure remains unchanged with today's updates.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in software, services, devices and solutions that help people and business realize their full potential.

About Yahoo! Inc.

Yahoo is a guide focused on making users' daily habits inspiring and entertaining. By creating highly personalized experiences for our users, we keep people connected to what matters most to them, across devices and around the world. In turn, we create value for advertisers by connecting them with the audiences that build their businesses. Yahoo is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, and has offices located throughout the Americas, Asia Pacific (APAC) and the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regions. For more information, visit the pressroom (pressroom.yahoo.net) or the Company's blog (yahoo.tumblr.com).

This press release contains forward-looking statements (including without limitation the quotations) about Yahoo’s strategic and operational plans, the amended search partnership and its ability to improve search experience, create value for advertisers, provide stability to partners, allow more innovation in search, and allow both parties to service advertisers more effectively. Risks and uncertainties may cause actual results to differ materially from the results predicted. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, the risk that the expected financial and other benefits of the amended search partnership with Microsoft Corporation may not be realized. All information set forth in this press release is as of the date of this press release. Yahoo does not intend, and undertakes no duty, to update this information to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. More information about potential factors that could affect the Company’s business and financial results is included under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014, which is on file with the SEC and available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Additional information will also be set forth in those sections in Yahoo’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2015, which will be filed with the SEC in the second quarter of 2015.