Future of China Yahoo Search Algorithm

Microsoft Bing’s search algorithm will be powering Yahoo’s search results after the two companies’ recent partnership deal. Soon Yahoo’s own search algorithm will no longer be available.

Yahoo China’s search results have long been powered by Yahoo’s search algorithm even though Yahoo China has been a web property of Alibaba Group since 2005.

    Yahoo China Search Engine
  • Yahoo China’s Search Engine URL: www.yahoo.cn
    Yahoo China Portal
  • Yahoo China’s Portal URL: cn.yahoo.com

To continue offering a search function to Chinese web users, Yahoo China will have to seek other replacements.

Why does Yahoo China need quality organic search results?

Yahoo China currently offers a pay per click (PPC) program to advertisers targeting to Chinese web users.

    Yahoo China PPC
  • Pay Per Click Program URL: p4p.cn.yahoo.com

Yahoo China’s PPC system is on a platform that is independent to Yahoo Panama. Sponsored links (PPC ads) are displayed alongside

Alibaba Group has also been syndicating Taobao’s paid ads of products alongside Yahoo China’s search results.

Without high quality web search results from Yahoo’s search technology, it will make no sense to only display Yahoo China’s PPC ads and Taobao’s product ads to Chinese web users.

Can the algorithms of Google, Baidu or Soso power Yahoo China search?

With years of experience in web search technologies, both Google and Baidu are definitely able to offer Chinese search algorithms that can fit Yahoo China’s exact requirements. Soso, the search engine of Tencent, has also started developing its own search technologies.

However, with Baidu’s and Tencent’s ambitions in China’s B2C and C2C markets, Alibaba Group may have already perceived Baidu, Soso and even Google as direct competitors and will not help Taobao’s competitors to grow reputations through their search algorithms.

Should Yahoo China search be powered by Microsoft Bing’s algorithm?

Microsoft will definitely want to expand its search market share in China. It will depend on how much advertising profit will Alibaba Group share with Microsoft when using Bing’s search algorithm on Yahoo China search engine.

Should Yahoo China develop its own new algorithm?

Yahoo China search engine will not be able to take advantage from Alibaba.com’s and Taobao.com’s current search engine technologies. The B2B and C2C sites’ search algorithms are product search based which are totally different from web search engines’ algorithms.

Should Alibaba Group sell Yahoo China back to Yahoo?

Selling Yahoo China back to Yahoo will immediate allow Yahoo China search engine to be powered by Bing’s search algorithm. However, evidence indicated that Alibaba Group is in the process of separating Yahoo China’s operations from the rest of Chinese subsidiaries.

  • Koubei.com recently has spinned off from Yahoo China, and merged into Taobao.com
  • Koubei’s classifieds originally displayed on Yahoo China will all be moved to Taobao

Jack Ma to decide Yahoo China’s future destiny

CEO Jack Ma believed Alibaba Group has the right to decide Yahoo China’s destiny and insisted that Yahoo is only one of the shareholders of Yahoo China.

Comments

One Response to “Future of China Yahoo Search Algorithm”

  1. Rocky Fu on September 4th, 2009 3:05 am

    Good post.

    I can’t remember since when Yahoo China has stopped offering search as a separate PPC service. Sogou is now a choice, besides baidu and Google, for many advertisers especially the big ones.

    Rocky

Leave your comments

  • Your first comment will be reviewed before getting posted.
  • Your subsequent comments will be posted without review.
  • All spammy comments will be deleted.