Facebook! and! Yahoo! kiss! and! make! up! with! tasty! ad! juice!

Time to bury that patent lawsuit... bitch

By Kelly Fiveash, Networks Correspondent, 9th July 2012

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Facebook and Yahoo! are friends again after their lawyers cobbled together a settlement in their shouting match over patents.

The two internet outfits had been at loggerheads for much of 2012 following a sueball slung at Facebook from Yahoo!

The Purple Palace had alleged that the dominant social network had infringed on 10 of its patents just as Facebook was preparing to take itself public on Wall Street. Instead of keeping a low profile ahead of its IPO, Facebook countersued Yahoo!, which has been in terminal decline for years.

As of Friday, peace fell upon Yahoo! and Facebook after the two companies agreed to spread some advertising love around.

According to Reuters, under the settlement - which extends an existing deal between the two parties - Facebook users will be able to share Yahoo! content, while there will also be cross-licensing of patents and teamwork on ad offerings during big events such as the forthcoming London 2012 Olympics.

Mark Zuckerberg's right-hand woman and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said: "I'm pleased that we were able to resolve this in a positive manner and look forward to partnering closely with Ross [Levinsohn, interim Purple Palace helmsman] and the leadership at Yahoo!" ®

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