Tech

Yahoo and Facebook enter agreement over ad sales, patent rights

Stephen Elliott Contributor
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Yahoo and Facebook reached an agreement Friday to expand the partnership between the tech giants.

AllThingsD first reported the deal, which comes as the final settlement in the patent infringement lawsuits filed by each of the companies.

Yahoo and Facebook will launch joint advertising sales efforts and begin cross-licensing key patents. Yahoo’s Board of Directors agreed to the deal Friday morning, according to the report.

In contrast with Facebook’s recent $550 million payment to Microsoft, no money will change hands in the Yahoo deal.

Yahoo interim CEO Ross Levinsohn and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg largely negotiated the deal. Contention between the two companies was centered on the lawsuits spearheaded by recently ousted Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson, and the new negotiations started almost as soon as Thompson’s firing was announced last month.

Many top level Yahoo executives had expressed concern over the attack on Facebook, so Levinsohn jumped at the opportunity to establish a more positive relationship between the companies.

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