Yahoo! is famous for services and software such as Yahoo! Mail, search engine, Yahoo! Maps and Yahoo! Messenger. Google is the owner of the most popular search engine and also offers software such as Google Chrome. Yahoo! and Google both are leaders in their own right and since a while there has been speculation about a partnership between Yahoo! Japan and Google. Recently they were evaluated by Japan’s Fair Trade Commission. It is the commission’s responsibility to ensure that no monopolies or unfair trades happen in the country. Yahoo! Japan had verified in July 2010 only that it was in line with Japan’s laws, but there were some groups who were apprehensive about the legality of the proposed alliance. There were concerns like when Google US supplies the search technology for Yahoo! Japan, they will become one of the biggest suppliers for Japan’s search volume.
There is also other issue like both Microsoft and Yahoo! US were concerned about the partnership and raised some doubts about the fairness of this partnership. These issues are not limited to US groups only but it also concerns some Japanese firms as well like Rakuten Inc, which is a web-based domestic retailer in Japan. However, the deal has been approved by Japan’s FTC. Yahoo! US cannot do much about it because it only holds a third of Yahoo! Japan.
Japan FTC will continue monitoring the deal and regulate monopolistic practices. The partnership is looking controversial but several market analysts had been predicting this decision for relatively some time. The surprise part is the choice of Google over Microsoft. The competition over Internet searches is getting bigger and in the Asian market, this deal will influence the nature of other companies also. The deal has taken place due to the different conditions in Japan and also the demand by users. Yahoo! is surely going to boost its presence in Japan and moreover in other Asian countries also.
