There are increasing rumors floating around in the Internet world about a possible Yahoo-Facebook partnership to create their own search engine. Brief news provided by the Telegraph has prompted readers to delve deeply into the available information and interpret it as collaboration between these two giants to create a search engine to topple Google from the top.
However, there are several factors that contradict this rumor. Even though Facebook has worked with Yahoo in the past such as allowing Facebook users to view and share Yahoo News, it is unlikely to lead both companies towards creating a new search engine. The simple fact being that Facebook already has another search engine giant Bing by its side. Bing had begun to include the social data of Facebook in its results way back in 2010.
Bing has also included a sidebar in its results page that allows Facebook members to share those results. Bing does have excellent quality of search engine manpower and better technology as compared to Yahoo. Anyway, since 2010 Yahoo has also outsourced their web searches to Bing. This indicates that Facebook would rather tie up with Bing to develop a new search engine than go with Yahoo.
Even though Facebook has over a billion members that could provide vital data to Yahoo, it would certainly be difficult for Yahoo to leverage that data to provide far better results than Google or Bing. The technology powering search engine algorithms of both these rivals is far ahead of Yahoo and Facebook would not be in a position to benefit from this collaboration if Yahoo cannot deliver improved results. Yahoo will need much more than preferences of Facebook members to improve its algorithm
Yahoo will firstly need to attract higher quality talent into its fold before it can pose a serious challenge to Google. Search engine engineers would rather prefer to join Bing and reap the benefits in case Facebook ties up with the company to produce a new search engine rather than risk joining Yahoo where searches are anyway on the decline.
Yahoo’s collaboration with Microsoft too is in jeopardy after their alliance failed to rake in projected revenues even after repeated assurances. Yahoo could exit the deal by March 31, 2013, but might then need to look for another deal with another partner. While the rumored alliance between Facebook and Yahoo might look good on paper, the fact is that Facebook, its technology, and its accumulated data will not be of much help to Yahoo for the supposed new algorithm, while Yahoo’s aging technology will not be able to help Facebook in any manner.
Neither Facebook nor Yahoo seems to be in any serious testing mode at present that might indicate that a future tie-up was in the cards. While Facebook has previously mentioned that it proposes to improve the quality of its results, this would only benefit its countless members that presently use the service to locate other members at this social networking website. A new search engine for the general public on the lines of Google does not seem to be visible on the horizon.
The talk about Facebook and Yahoo launching their search engine seems to be only talk. It would certainly be an uphill task to unseat Google from top position and both companies do not seem to hold the required technology or the technical prowess to achieve a successful coup.