• by Shankar Gupta , January 4, 2007

Search engine MIVA has terminated its long-standing search ad partnership with Yahoo, replacing the company with search rival Google, according to SEC papers filed Wednesday.

MIVA said in its papers that it will adopt Google advertisements on applications and sites managed by its subsidiary, MIVA Direct, which produces white-label toolbar and Web search. The deal, which will run for two years and has "broad termination rights," will begin within 30 days.

MIVA's previous search ad partner was Yahoo Search Marketing. That arrangement, dating back to April 2001, is slated to terminate on Jan. 27.

Greg Sterling, principle of Sterling Marketing Intelligence, said that Yahoo's efforts to grow its search network face stiff competition from Google, which has a far more entrenched network. "They have many many more advertisers, and they have more coverage," he said. "Yahoo's network isn't as extensive, and it becomes more challenging to grow."

Yahoo in September lost its deal to supply text link ads for ESPN.com to Quigo, which competes with both Yahoo and MIVA in the search space.

MIVA declined to comment.