Yahoo Japan has been testing the search results display by mixing some of the Google’s search results for some time. Now, Yahoo Japan’s search results is identical to Google’s search results in many cases if you use Chrome browser. In other words, depending on which browser you use, you get different search results in Yahoo Japan right now. (See Yahoo JP results in Chrome vs. FireFox and Google JP results for the same keyword.)

Since Yahoo Japan and Google Japan announced its plan for search service tie-up (both organic search and PPC services) in July, the search business partnership has been getting much of the attention and some criticisms. Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC), who initially gave a statement that they didn’t think it would violate the Antitrust (or Competition) Law, is now investigating the potential problems in response to Rakuten’s reqeust submitted last month, by interviewing organizations and businesses including Microsoft.

Also, several members of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party have formed “The Internet Search Issues Investigation Group” to create a bill to assure fair search and online advertising services by picking up issues that may not be regulated by the Antitrust Law.

The partnership has a major impact in business’s search engine marketing strategies in Japan, and everyone is paying a close attention to both engines’ move. Despite the criticisms, Yahoo seems to move forward with the switch, at least for now.

Yahoo results in FireFox

Yahoo results in FireFox


Yahoo results in Chrome

Yahoo results in Chrome


Google Results in FireFox

Google Results in FireFox