Unless you have been living under a rock, you’ve heard of the Yahoo-Google deal that was announced recently. If you have a website (especially a business website), you’re probably wondering what their deal means for your position in the search engine results and your overall search engine optimization strategy.

Short answer: Your ranking and position in the search engine results should not be affected.

The deal should prove to be a positive one for your business, and it shouldn’t affect your rankings in either search engine. In fact, the deal will make it easier to advertise across both company’s platforms, so you will be able to extend your marketing reach with a minimum of effort. In Google’s own words:

“Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) today announced that it has reached an agreement that gives Yahoo! the ability to use Google’s search and contextual advertising technology through its AdSense™ for Search and AdSense for Content advertising programs. Under the agreement, Yahoo! has the option to display Google ads alongside its own natural search results in the U.S. and Canada. In addition, Yahoo! can serve contextually targeted ads on its U.S. and Canadian web properties as well as on its current publisher partner sites. Yahoo will continue to operate its own search engine, web properties and advertising services.”

Essentially, if you are running a pay-per-click campaign with Google’s AdWords, you can now advertise on Yahoo as well (if you’d like), without having to develop on a separate campaign.