Lex專欄 雅虎的搜索攻堅戰

Internet search is a lucrative business — just ask Google. The company accounts for two-thirds of desktop searches in the US. But change is afoot this year. Microsoft and Yahoo, numbers two and three in US search, could revisit their search agreement with each other. Yahoo’s market share in this field has risen (now 13 per cent, ComScore says) after it became the default for Mozilla Firefox. Meanwhile Google’s exclusive search deal with Apple’s Safari browser is up for grabs; UBS estimates that the Safari deal could drive nearly $8bn in sales for Google this year. So 2015 could become the year of the search wars.

互聯網搜索是一項有利可圖的業務——只需問問谷歌(Google)就知道了。該公司佔美國臺式電腦搜索的三分之二。但今年，這樣領域正在醞釀一場變革。在美國搜索領域排名第二的微軟(Microsoft)和排名第三的雅虎(Yahoo)，可能會重新修訂互相之間的搜索協議。在成爲Mozilla火狐(Firefox)瀏覽器的默認搜索引擎後，雅虎在互聯網搜索領域的市場份額已上升（ComScore稱，如今其份額爲13%）。與此同時，谷歌與蘋果(Apple)瀏覽器Safari的獨家搜索協議仍懸而未決；瑞銀(UBS)估計，與Safari的協議今年可能會爲谷歌帶來近80億美元的銷售額。因此，2015年可能會成爲搜索大戰之年。

This all matters more for Yahoo than for most of its rivals. Search will be a crucial part of the company after its stake in Alibaba is spun out. Its search agreement with Microsoft accounted for 35 per cent of revenues last year.

這一切對於雅虎，比對於它的大多數競爭對手更爲重要。在雅虎剝離了其在阿里巴巴(Alibaba)的股權後，搜索將成爲雅虎的一項關鍵業務。雅虎與微軟的搜索協議佔到雅虎去年收入的35%。

But that agreement with Microsoft has had its drawbacks. Under the 2009 deal, which covers desktop usage, Yahoo-branded searches essentially distribute Bing results. Microsoft controls the search algorithm and handles ad sales, taking a 12 per cent fee. Disappointing sales have led Yahoo to consider ending the deal. Chief executive Marissa Mayer said in the January earnings call that discussions were under way. The agreement allows Yahoo to wriggle out after five years if certain targets are not met. The window for renegotiation expires this week. Otherwise the agreement will stay in force for another five years.

但與微軟的那份協議也存在一些不利之處。根據2009年的這份協議，雅虎品牌的搜索列出的主要是必應(Bing)的搜索結果。該協議涵蓋了在臺式機上的使用。微軟控制搜索算法並管理廣告銷售額，從中抽取12%的分成。令人失望的銷售額導致雅虎考慮終止該協議。在今年1月的盈利電話會議上，雅虎首席執行官瑪麗薩•邁耶(Marissa Mayer)表示，談判正在進行之中。該協議規定，假如5年後某些目標沒有達到，雅虎可以退出。重新談判的機會在本週到期。否則，該協議將再續5年。

But the bigger battle may be over mobile search. This has posed a challenge for search operators. Users do not engage with mobile search as deeply as with desktop, so advertisers are unwilling to pay as much for ads. Google has tried to address this with its Android operating system. Yahoo has built mobile search through acquisitions such as Aviate, an app with Yahoo search. But without full control over its search offerings and ad sales — across all formats — success in search could be an uphill battle for Yahoo.

但更重要的戰役可能在移動搜索領域。這對搜索運營商構成了挑戰。在移動端，用戶對搜索的依賴並不像在臺式機上那麼高，因此廣告商不願支付那麼多的廣告費。谷歌一直試圖利用其安卓(Android)操作系統來解決這個問題。雅虎則一直通過併購Aviate等應用擴大移動搜索業務，Aviate現已內置雅虎搜索。但對於雅虎而言，在沒有完全控制搜索結果和廣告銷售（所有平臺）的情況下，要想在搜索領域取得成功可能需要一場攻堅戰。