Yahoo Expands Web Search Services

Yahoo and Acresso Software partner to distribute new add-on Toolbar services.

Yahoo Inc has announced that it has partnered with software packaging firm Acresso Software to expand distribution of its Web search services on personal computers.

Acresso, which was recently spun off by entertainment media security company Macrovision Corp, makes the widely used InstallShield, a technology used by software makers and corporate network administrators to install new PC programs.

Under the deal, Acresso plans to distribute to its customer base of more than 500 million computer users the Yahoo Toolbar, an add-on to browsers that users can download, providing access to search and other Web navigation services from Yahoo.

The deal is designed to keep Yahoo from losing share in the competitive Web search market. Yahoo makes most of its money running ads alongside Web searches and other services it offers.

Rival Google Inc, the dominant Web search provider, has struck a succession of similar distribution deals for its own toolbar with partners ranging from software maker Adobe to PC maker Dell to social network MySpace.

Microsoft Corp, the No. 3 in U.S. Web search after Yahoo, this week displaced Yahoo in a deal with Hewlett-Packard Co to distribute Microsoft search services on HP PCs.

The Yahoo Toolbar is the first software to be featured in Acresso's new program to offer software makers a set of services.