Google ponders Yahoo! ties

Google has signalled its interest in discussing advertising partnership opportunities with Yahoo!. Google co-founder Sergey Brin made the comment before the company’s annual general meeting in the US yesterday (May 8).

He says the two search giants “share a lot of values” and following Yahoo!s “successful” test of using Google’s search advertising for two weeks, there is now scope for further discussions between the two.

“That’s a good basis to talk to Yahoo! some more,” Brin says. However, Google chief executive Eric Schmidt (pictured) says there is no official deal on the table at this stage.

At the annual meeting, Schmidt said it planned to launch new products on its web video service, YouTube, over the next few months. Google acquired the company for £1.6bn in 2006.

Brin added that YouTube and its online advertising company, DoubleClick, were still small compared to its core business. “They both have potential, but for it to be a sizeable part of our revenue, you’re going to have to wait at least a couple of years,” he says.