Verizon and Yahoo announced an extension of their portal relationship. The Verizon-Yahoo! co-branded portal is made available to Verizon high speed Internet users and offers a variety of Yahoo powered Internet tools and applications. The portal will offer Yahoo! Search, and co-branded e-mail, Instant Messenger and Toolbar applications. “Yahoo! also will provide search and display advertising on the co-branded portal and e-mail application, and both companies will share the search, advertising and e-commerce revenues generated by users of the co-branded portal,” said Verizon in a company statement. The partnership began in 2005, and this is a “multi year” extension.
Portals have long been used by broadband service providers to add additional value to their service, and hopefully generate a little additional revenue as well. As broadband empowers more utility and multimedia applications, broadband service providers are looking for ways to empower their customers to take advantage. It’s one minor step away from the “dumb pipe” argument, where carriers look to add value to their broadband service and not just provide straight connectivity.
