Yahoo! and Microsoft seal search advertising agreement

LONDON - Microsoft and Yahoo! have finally agreed an online search and advertising deal, which has been rumoured for months, with an official announcement expected today.

A number of sources have confirmed the agreement between the two companies, although it is unknown how much cash will be trading hands.

As part of the deal, Yahoo! would sell search advertising for its sites and Microsoft's, while Microsoft's Bing search engine would power the partnership.

would keep most, if not all, of the revenue generated from the ads over the next three years. will benefit from having Yahoo! sell ads on its sites.

The partnership will better set the companies up to take on their common rival in .