In June reports began to flow regarding the formalization of the plan for Bing to begin serving search results for Yahoo. When that news broke agencies and advertisers alike began to look ahead to the time when their Yahoo! paid search performance would begin to decline and Bing’s to picks up. A frenzy of optimization and account update activity ensued in order to allow Bing to naturally and smoothly pick up the search traffic (both paid and organic).

The testing of Bing ads in the Yahoo space has begun. As of mid-July, about 25% of natural search results and about 3% of paid search results in Yahoo SRPs are being generated by Bing. The transition is expected to be fully realized by October, though any negative impacts on early online holiday shopping may result in timelines being shifted to the early part 2011.

Yahoo and Bing have been extremely communicative about this transition. There have been updated joint Bing/Yahoo editorial guidelines released to help advertisers successfully roll campaigns from one engine to the other with little editorial barrier. Both engines have also released FAQs to assist advertisers in the transition process. Those links can be found below.

Additionally, third party search tools have also begun to direct users in smooth transitions from one platform to another. Bid management providers such as Google’s DART are in communication with advertisers regarding the options for ensuring that Bing accounts are loaded, polished and ready.

For additional information visit Yahoo’s Transition Center or Bing’s Webmaster Center for more info, tools, tips and advice on making the most of the changes.