Google and AOL remain search partners for the next five years

Under a new five-year agreement, Google and AOL announced Thursday that they've agreed to remain search partners for the next five years. Google will continue to power AOL's natural and paid search results, with the two firms sharing the associated ad revenue.

Plus, as part of the new pact, AOL has agreed to distribute its content on YouTube, Google's massively popular video venue. In addition, Google will now power search on AOL's mobile properties.

But the announcement itself is a timely one given that it comes just 48 hours after Microsoft's Bingification of Yahoo! drew closer on Tuesday, when the transition of advertisers' search-based campaigns from Yahoo! Search Marketing to MS adCenter kicked off.

AOL(AOL) and Google (GOOG) gave the following canned statements:

"Today is another important step in the turnaround of AOL," said Tim Armstrong, AOL's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "AOL users will be getting a better search and search ads experience from the best search company in the world – Google. After nearly a decade-long partnership in search, we're looking forward to expanding our global relationship to mobile search and YouTube. All aspects of our partnership will be improved by this deal."

"We're excited to deepen our partnership. This agreement combines Google's expertise in search and advertising with AOL's strength in online content," said Eric Schmidt, chairman and chief executive fficer of Google. "It's particularly exciting to see our relationship expand into video and mobile. These areas are now at the heart of users' online experiences and at the core of both of our businesses."

The deal covers:

- Search: Google will provide AOL with additional features and enhancement to its Web search products across AOL’s network of sites.

- Advertising: Google will provide AOL with ad formats designed to give consumers a “better, more relevant ad experience.”

- Mobile Search: The companies said they will work together to develop mobile search applications.

- YouTube: AOL and YouTube have agreed to a content partnership that will bring AOL’s video content to YouTube.

- Global Focus: The alliance is international in scope.