Can Search Engines Grow Through Hardware Partnerships?

Yahoo has accounted a partnership with Acer to make Yahoo the default search engine on Microsoft Internet Explorer browsers shipped with new computers.

Yahoo search to run on all PCs of Taiwan's Acer - Yahoo! News

Yahoo Inc. has signed a multiyear distribution deal to feature its Internet search services on all personal computers from Taiwan's Acer Inc., the world's No. 4-ranked computer notebook maker, the companies said on Wednesday. Acer, which is the top supplier of PC notebooks in Europe and the third-ranked manufacturer in Asia, plans to feature Yahoo as the default way users search on the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser.

I assume this means Yahoo will be the default homepage for Acer Computer purchasers. It may also mean that typos typed into the address bar will resolve to Yahoo search results. And Acer computers will come with the Yahoo toolbar preinstalled, so they'll have easy access to many Yahoo properties including Yahoo Mail and likely Yahoo Chat as well.

The question I have is, "Do preset homepages and toolbars influence the search market?" My guess is that they certainly do in the short term. In fact, default search pages probably help explain why people so often search for search engines. Why would someone search for a search engine if they knew how to change their default homepage?

In the longer run, setting a default homepage will only help you so much. Look at MSN, which has set more default homepages than any other search company in the history of the Internet, yet lags behind Google and Yahoo who've only recently started to play in this game.

By the way, do your friends and relatives a favor by asking them what their favorite search engine is. If it's not their browser's default homepage, ask them if they'd like help switching to it. Or, if they're using a browser with a search box, like FireFox or Safari (and I believe IE7), show them how to set the default search engine for that.

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