- 14 Mar 2002
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According to Nikkei, Yahoo Japan is considering having another company provide its search engine technology, currently supplied by a Google affiliate. Z Holdings, Yahoo Japan's owner, has announced plans to bring Yahoo and LINE under its umbrella in October and launch a new company called LINE Yahoo. LINE Yahoo's major shareholder will be Naver, a South Korean Internet service provider with more than 60% share in that country's search market.
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asia.nikkei.com
Naver is working to develop search technology incorporating generative artificial intelligence, aiming to export it to Japan and other countries where LINE is popular. Industry watchers will be waiting to see whether Yahoo Japan switches its search engine provider to Naver to improve its management efficiency and make more effective use of technical resources within the group. According to Z Holdings ' financial statements, Yahoo has been under contract with Google Asia Pacific since July 2010. The contract stipulates the nonexclusive provision of search technology for Yahoo's search engine service and search-linked advertisement distribution technology. Under the terms of the agreement, Yahoo Japan is allowed to freely develop and incorporate additional functions to differentiate its search results from those of competitors.
Paywall alert:
Yahoo Japan weighs ending search engine deal with Google
Company considering using technology from South Korea's Naver ahead of merger