Now that Yahoo and Microsoft have been granted regulatory approval for their search deal, what happens now? That is a question that many people in the search industry want answered.

Just for a recap, Microsoft will power Yahoo Search and Yahoo will become the exclusive search advertising provider for Microsoft’s search engine, Bing. Recently, WebProNews had the opportunity to sit down with Shashi Seth, the Senior Vice President of Yahoo Search Products, to learn more about how the alliance between the two companies would be integrated.

First of all, Seth points out that the full integration will take between 18-24 months. As it takes place, he is quick to say that users will continue to receive a compelling search experience from Yahoo that goes beyond the traditional search page.

In spite of the partnership, each engine will maintain its individual areas of focus. For Yahoo specifically, Seth says, “…What our users will continue to find is that not only can they find that great content that resides on [the] Yahoo network on Yahoo Search, but also that we can take people from Yahoo Search to the appropriate properties etc., in the right context…”

According to Seth, users will likely see slight modifications to Yahoo Search over the next several months as the Microsoft integration is completed. However, the companies have not yet decided if they will do a major launch with new features and functionalities.

There are still many questions regarding Yahoo such as the company’s level of commitment to search, implications on advertisers, future innovations, and more.  Keep watching WebProNews for more information on these very issues directly from Yahoo.