Yahoo has signed a multiyear softwar-bundle-like agreement with Acer, the world's fourth-biggest PC maker - similar to Google's partnership with Dell.

With the imminent arrival of Microsoft's IE7 web browser, with MSN Search as the default option for searches, Google and Yahoo are attempting to increase their presence on personal computers, writes the Financial Times. Yahoo's search engine will be the default on Acer computers shipped with the new browser. Also, when opening a browser, Acer users will be taken to a co-branded start page and toolbar that provides links to services.

Acer shipped nearly 10 million PCs last years, about a quarter as many as Dell, but it was the leading supplier of notebook computers in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region in the second quarter of this year.