Google, Yahoo! Step Up Search-Deal Defense

SAN FRANCISCO -- As criticism continues to mount over a search advertising tie-in between Yahoo!(YHOO Quote) and Google(GOOG Quote), the two companies are ratcheting up their defenses to ensure that the deal goes through.

In a recent post on Yahoo!'s corporate blog titled, "Myth-busting and the Yahoo!-Google agreement," President Sue Decker offered a lengthy explanation of how the company's decision to outsource some of its online ads in the U.S. and Canada to Google wouldn't hurt advertisers, as some have feared.

Google has gone even further, creating an entire site that addresses the criticisms point by point, and quotes various advertisers and marketers supporting the deal. It plans to move ahead with the search arrangement on Oct. 11. ...