A WebmasterWorld thread points to a recent presentation video by Yahoo and Microsoft of the transition timelines for Bing to begin powering Yahoo on both the organic and paid side of search.
Did you know that Bing is already or will very soon begin testing powering Yahoo's search results? Yes, in Yahoo Search, you should technically see the same organic results that you would see in Bing - possibly any day now. Of course, this is being tested and you and I may not see it, while your neighbor may see it. This should be in testing mode right now.
When will Yahoo switch completely over to Bing? Either in August or September of this year. That obviously assumes that the tests go well. But we are looking for an August or September 2010 transition on the organic side of Yahoo to Microsoft search.
Here is a slide from the presentation that shares those details:
I am tracking several search results on Yahoo and Bing and will report back as soon as I see them matching. Again, if you see it before me, do let me know.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
Postscript: Yahoo sent me this update:
Our goal is to transition algorithmic and paid search in the U.S and Canada in 2010 and we will soon start a series of external bucket tests (note: we’re only doing internal tests today). We will be sharing details about these tests (when they start, etc) with our customers first. So while we're not ready to answer your specific questions today, we would be happy to bring you into the loop when the time is right.In terms of the transition timing outlined on the slide – as we've said prior, our focus is on providing advertisers with a quality transition experience while protecting the all important holiday season. If we don’t believe we can do both in that timeframe, we will wait until 2011. That is the reason why the slide states that "we may adjust transition timing and dates as needed."
