Microsoft will progress online with or without Yahoo, says chief operating officer

Microsoft's chief operating officer has said the company will continue to make progress with its search and portal products with or without the Yahoo acquisition.

Microsoft's chief operating officer, Kevin Turner, told Computer Weekly in an interview that the Yahoo deal presented an opportunity for the company to raise its research and development investment in the search and digital advertising market. However, Kevin Turner said he was confident Microsoft could continue to develop its online products without the deal.

"If you look at our search experience and you look at our portal experience - those have made a ton of progress in recent months and we're going to continue make progress with or without the Yahoo acquisition," Turner said.

He said the Yahoo deal represented an opportunity for developing a common index for search and having commonality across its online portals, e-mail and instant messaging.