Yahoo Japan Corp. will use Google technology to run its search engine and search ad delivery system, after a similar deal in the U.S. was derailed by regulators concerned about a monopoly, AP reported. The decision announced Tuesday by Yahoo Japan, which runs separately from its California-based namesake, means that the bulk of Internet searches done in Japan will use Google's search engine rather than Yahoo Inc.'s. Yahoo Japan and Google both said enough independence would be maintained to keep the market competitive. Yahoo Inc., looking to cut costs as it lagged behind Google Inc., already dropped its own search service and adopted technology from rival Microsoft Corp.'s Bing search engine, in a deal that was approved earlier this year by U.S. and European regulators after a seven-month review. A proposed partnership between Yahoo and Google in the U.S. fell apart in 2008 after the Justice Department threatened to block it on antitrust grounds. The Japanese Fair Trade Commission has traditionally been seen as more lenient than its U.S. counterpart, although it has ruled against Microsoft for violating anti-monopoly laws in its contracts. Google currently dominates the lucrative Internet search market worldwide. It generates income by charging advertisers to display links along with search results. Few companies have the technology, user base and funds required to compete in search, and the shrinking number of players has raised concerns about privacy and fair competition. Microsoft's top lawyer blasted Google's proposed expansion in Japan as «even more anticompetitive» as its aborted alliance with Yahoo Inc. in the U.S. would have been. The deal «means there will be no search competition in Japan and that Google will end up controlling all personal search information for all Japanese consumers and businesses,» Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, said in a Tuesday statement. Japan had the third largest Internet-using population in the world in 2008 behind the U.S. and China, according to the Foreign Ministry, with about 96 million users. A government study last year projected the market for search-related ads accessed from PCs would increase 27 percent over the next three years to about 200 billion yen ($2.3 billion). Yahoo Japan said Tuesday it had consulted with Japan's Fair Trade Commission before the deal was announced, though specifics of the agreement were still being worked out.
