Back in 2010, Microsoft and Yahoo formed a partnership that would help both companies expand their search business and compete with Google. While the partnership was supposed to go for a decade, there was room for negotiations or even termination once five years had passed and it looks like Microsoft may be looking to pull out of the deal due to the fact that it hasn’t actually gotten that much out of it.
Yahoo and Microsoft have agreed to extend by 30 days the deadline to re-negotiate a ten year search deal, as the two Internet companies attempt to revamp a thorny partnership crafted by former chief executives. The search partnership, which took effect in 2010, allowed the companies to negotiate changes or to terminate the arrangement entirely after five years. Under the terms of the deal, the companies had 30 days to make changes following Feb. 23. According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, Yahoo and Microsoft mutually agreed to extend that deadline to a 60-day period following Feb. 23. “We value our partnership with Microsoft and continue discussions about plans for the future. We have nothing further to announce at this time,” Yahoo said in a statement. Microsoft declined to comment.
