Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. have entered into a 10-year Web-search deal to better compete against market leader Google Inc., but stopped short of combining their display advertising businesses, Reuters reported. The deal will boost Yahoo’s annual operating income by about $500 million and yield capital expenditure savings of $200 million, the companies said in a joint statement this morning. Microsoft’s Bing search engine will be the exclusive algorithmic search and paid search technology for Yahoo’s sites, while Yahoo will be responsible for selling premium search ads for both companies. Each company will maintain its own separate display advertising business and sales force, they said.

Meredith Corp. this morning reported a fiscal fourth-quarter loss of $164 million, or $3.64 a share, compared with a profit of $19 million, or 41 cents a share, for the same period in 2008. Revenue for the quarter slipped to $346 million, from $376 million. Excluding various charges, Meredith would have posted adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations of 55 cents versus 75 cents. The company made a $100 million debt payment on June 30, which reduced its debt load to $380 million. “Despite a challenging advertising climate, we made significant progress on the performance improvement plan put in place at this time last year,” Meredith President and CEO Steve Lacy said, in a press release. “We gained market share, grew new revenue sources, prudently managed our costs and cut debt by more than 20 percent.”

Iowa Telecommunications Services Inc. today reported net income of $2.9 million, or 8 cents per share, for the second quarter ended June 30, compared to net income of $5.3 million in the second quarter of 2008. The company recorded operating revenues of $58.8 million. Earnings were negatively impacted by a one-time charge of $1.8 million related to network access matters. Iowa Telecom recently expanded its operations through acquisitions in Minnesota, and now provides more than 40,000 access lines in that state.

Wind-energy producers installed 160 megawatts (MW) of new wind power generating capacity in Iowa in the second quarter, maintaining the state’s No. 2 position in installed capacity, placing it behind Texas and ahead of California. Iowa now has more than 3 gigawatts (3,043 MW) of installed wind-energy capacity, according to a report from the American Wind Energy Association. The state posting the fastest growth in the quarter was Missouri, where wind-power installations expanded by 90 percent. There are now utility-scale wind power installations in 35 states. The report is available at http://www.awea.org/publications/reports/2Q09.pdf

American business owners focus on the present with no long-term plan to exit or transition their business, according to a new survey by Principal Financial Group Inc. The study, which surveys small to medium-sized business owners with two to 500 employees, was conducted by Harris Interactive. Among those surveyed, nearly seven out of 10 owners said they do not have an exit plan to transition their business in the event of death, disability or retirement. Instead, owners focus on growing their business (70 percent), followed by achieving business stability and remaining active in the business after retirement (both 47 percent). The findings also indicate business owners’ stated priorities often do not match their actions. Health insurance was the top priority for business owners, yet more than half of owners (58 percent) do not currently offer this benefit.

Iowa ranks fifth in the nation for volunteer service, according to a new national report. Des Moines, Iowa City and Waterloo were among the top 10 cities in the country based on their volunteer rates, according to the report released yesterday by the Corporation for National and Community Service. Iowa was the only state to have three cities in the top ten overall rankings. Des Moines was ranked 10th in the nation with a volunteer rate of 38.2 percent. Iowa City and Waterloo ranked second and sixth overall, with volunteer rates of 49.2 percent and 39.3 percent. Approximately 886,000 adults volunteered in Iowa in 2008, compared to 858,300 in 2007, an increase of 3 percent.

West Des Moines-based Holmes Murphy & Associates Inc. has been named the 24th largest independent risk management and insurance brokerage firm in the United States, up from No. 28 in 2008. The ranking of the largest 100 insurance brokers was listed in the July 20 issue of Business Insurance magazine. “Our entire team of seasoned professionals are passionate about understanding our clients’ businesses and delivering the best solutions for their needs, and this growth is a testament to the leadership and dedication our employees provide to clients,” Jim Swift, the company’s president and CEO, said in a press release.