Stepping up the heated battle of online
search and services, Yahoo Inc. and Adobe Systems Inc. have joined
forces to tap each others' customers and put Web search features
into Adobe's popular Acrobat Reader software.
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP)—Stepping up the heated battle of online
search and services, Yahoo Inc. and Adobe Systems Inc. have joined
forces to tap each others customers and put Web search features
into Adobes popular Acrobat Reader software.
The broad strategic relationship to be announced Monday is
Sunnyvale-based Yahoos latest maneuver against chief rivals Google
Inc. and Microsoft Corp. in the fight to become the gateway of
search and Web access on as many desktops as possible.
For San Jose-based Adobe, the partnership will add online
features to one of the software makers core products, Acrobat. The
program is used by more than 500 million people and has become a
common format for viewing documents over the Web and in e-mail
attachments.
Under the deal, Adobe will first introduce a cobranded Yahoo
browser toolbar that users can choose to install on their computers
when prompted to download an update of Acrobat Reader. The toolbar
—an increasingly popular method of online search engines to stay
constantly visible on a users Internet browser—will feature
links to Yahoo products and services as well as Adobes Web-based
subscription service that lets people convert documents into the
Adobe PDF file format.
Later, the companies said, the toolbar will add features such as
the ability to quickly convert Web-based content into Adobe PDF
files. Yahoo search will also be built into a future version of the
Acrobat Reader, allowing users to search for more information from
within the document without going through the extra steps of
launching a Web browser.
"We call it being available at the point of inspiration," said
Tim Cadogan, Yahoos vice president of search.
The products will further bridge the worlds of online and
off-line content, said Pam Deziel, a director of product marketing
for Adobe Acrobat.
Thats a goal Adobe has been trying to achieve recently in many
of its products as it strives to expand its software tools beyond
the off-line desktop publishing space into the powerful realm of
the Internet.
Yahoo and its Internet rivals are headed in a similar
multifaceted direction. Google, for instance, recently introduced
software that lets users search for files stored on their
computers.
"Were seeing an Internet portal battleground toward the
desktop, and Yahoo and Google in particular will be slugging it out
over the next few years," said Tim Hickernell, a vice president at
market research firm Meta Group. "Yahoo is a winner here by
picking up a distribution channel through Adobe."
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Deziel said
only certain elements regarding search features were exclusive to
Yahoo, but she and Cadogan refused to give further details.
The partnership, which had been under discussion for several
months, is wide-ranging. The two companies said they will look at
how they can blend features of their other products as well.
"This is just a starting (point) for the integration between
the two companies," Cadogan said. "With a little creativity to
think it through, we hope our partnership will help consumers find
information and create information."
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