Under the terms of the deal, Yahoo will be the default search engine on all HP PCs loaded with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7. A Yahoo-branded toolbar, customized for various global regions, also will be installed on the PCs.
The agreement gives Yahoo access to the world’s second largest PC maker.
"Partnering with a company like HP, that has been a leader in its industry for many years, puts Yahoo in an excellent position to be able to distribute our most widely adopted offerings," Yahoo's COO Dan Rosensweig said. "This relationship is an important component of Yahoo's overall strategy to partner with leading global brands that will enable us to further extend our products and services to the world's community of Internet users."
Yahoo also reached a similar agreement to load its tools onto computers made by Taiwan-based Acer, which owns a small fraction of the U.S. market but is growing rapidly in other parts of the world.
While the financial details of the deal were not made public, Yahoo will be the one paying HP for the valuable PC real estate. But, according to Endpoint Technology Associates analyst Roger Kay, the key for Yahoo will be monetizing the traffic from the deal, something the company has struggled with.
Yahoo’s chief rival, Mountain View, Calif.-based Google, has signed a similar deal with Dell.
