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



The search engine world is still buzzing following the recent decision of Yahoo to effectively shut down its own search infrastructure and outsource its search results business to Microsoft in the guise of its latest and hottest search interface, “Bing”. The deal represents an admission from both partners that they need to team up and leverage their respective strengths if they want to have a hope of competing with the 500 pound gorilla, Google. Pooling their collective search markets will give them a combined 30% of searches in America, compared with Google’s 65%.
Japan’s growing ranks of cashed-up senior citizens present a significant market opportunity for any company targeting Japanese customers. This is the decade during which the Japanese baby boom generation is looking to enjoy the fruits of their life’s work in retirement and increasingly they are getting online and searching for websites that are relevant to their interests and needs.