Japan Web Watch
News, comments and information about online business in Japan.



Today it was announced by Google Asia Pacific and Japan vice president Daniel Alegre that Yahoo Japan would switch at the end of the year to using Google Japan’s search engine results. Sometime next year, Google’s text ad system, Adwords will also replace Yahoo Japan’s Sponsored Search listings.
The announcement ends speculation that began last summer after the announcement of the MicroSoft Bing / Yahoo parent company agreement. Apparently one of the clinching factors in the surprise decision to snub the MicroSoft’s search platform was Google’s better localization. “Google is one step ahead in Japanese-language services” reported Masahiro Inoue, chief executive of Yahoo Japan.

Anyone who is familiar with the Japanese urban landscape will have noticed that QR code symbols are virtually everywhere. On train advertisements, pamphlets, menus, business cards and product labels. In some extreme cases even on family graves!