Google Takes Friendly Fire

Ask.com's partnership with Google is set to expire at the end of this year, and Ask.com is taking every opportunity to broadcast that it would happily partner with a Google rival if it were better suited to its interests after that period. "Earlier this year, we will also be evaluating our options for monetization and distribution. I expect that to be a vigorous process," IAC CEO of media and advertising Peter Horan told Searchblog in January. "The initial overtures have been very interesting."

What makes Google's position even more difficult is that main rivals have upped their game as of late. In January, Yahoo!(YHOO Quote) launched the key ad ranking component of its highly anticipated Panama system. Panama has received excellent review so far, and Yahoo!'s stock is up about 18% since the beginning of the year.

Microsoft, meanwhile, seems to have no qualms with using its enormous financial muscle to gain share in the search market. Last week, it was reported that the software giant was testing an incentive program in which it would give credits for Microsoft products to companies that got their employees to use its search service. Desperate for new avenues of growth, Microsoft may make extreme concessions in a partnership that could give it a bigger footprint in search.

The opportunity does not seem to be lost on Ask.com. "It may be that the best track for us is to see how Panama strengthens and that the gap between Google and Yahoo! narrows and that Microsoft makes some progress," IACI CEO Barry Diller said during the company's last conference call with investors. "But they are all interested in talking with us now."