14 DAY TRIAL // Bing is going through serious changes these days, and Yahoo is not willing to wait at Microsoft's whims, or at least it knows something we don't know about Bing's future, because the company has started testing Google-powered search results for its search engine.
After a few days ago Aaron Wall of SEO Book was first to notice changes in Yahoo's search results layout, the company has officially confirmed that it is currently mixing Google data in some of its search results.
Only users on certain browsers are seeing Google-powered search results, but not all the time.
You can easily spot them by the ads shown on the page, Google using its classic blue color for links, while Bing goes for purple and additionally shows the favicon of the featured ad.
In a statement for Search Engine Land, Yahoo has officially confirmed by saying, "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. There is nothing further to share at this time."
A test drive for a future possible Google-Yahoo search deal
Yahoo's current moves on the search market are a complete mess, and it's very hard even for industry experts to anticipate or guess what the company is actually looking for.
At first, Yahoo managed to replace Google as the default search engine in Firefox, it then sealed a deal with Oracle, which would allow it to pack Yahoo Search with Java updates, and then managed to extend its current deal with Bing.
These deals enabled Yahoo to have a more powerful presence on the search market, even better than back in the late 2000s, in its heyday, but this recent "Google test" leaves you asking yourself, "Why is it teaming up with its main competitor?"
The company doesn't seem to be gaining anything in funneling the competition's search results and search ads on its page, and we're left thinking about what Google has offered Yahoo back in return.
I am seeing some Google AdWords ads AND Google organics in the Yahoo! SERPs today in Firefox.
— aaron wall (@aaronwall) July 1, 2015
