Microsoft hopes it will complete the Bing-powered takeover of Yahoo’s backend search later this year, according to a Microsoft executive speaking at an investor conference June 9, although complications could delay that transition until early 2011.
Microsoft and Yahoo had previously announced that they hoped to have the major aspects of the deal, which includes porting Yahoo’s U.S. advertisers and publishers onto Microsoft’s AdCenter platform, in place by the end-year holidays 2010. Yahoo will take over worldwide sales-force duties for both companies’ search advertisers.