Microsoft and Yahoo have finalized their search agreement, the two companies said today.

The search terms remain the same."There's additional details and mechanics for implementing the transaction," said Kim Rubey, a Yahoo spokeswoman, but she declined to go into what those details were.

Here is the companies' joint statement:

Microsoft and Yahoo! believe that this deal will create a sustainable and more compelling alternative in search that can provide consumers, advertisers and publishers real choice, better value, and more innovation.

Yahoo! and Microsoft welcome the broad support the deal has received from key players in the advertising industry and remain hopeful that the closing of the transaction can occur in early 2010.

The companies are still seeking regulatory approval for the agreement, which today's announcement does not affect. Australia and Canada competition authorities have given the green light. The heavies who have yet to weigh in are the U.S. and the European Union.

The companies expect to file an 8-K report with the Securities and Exchange Commission next week, Rubey said.

The two companies hope to combine their search businesses in a 10-year partnership that would make Microsoft's Bing the search engine across all of Yahoo Web sites, while Yahoo sells ads to larger advertisers. Yahoo would get 88 percent of revenue from search advertising for the first five years, and Microsoft would license Yahoo's core search technology.

Here is a story we ran in July when the two companies signed a letter of intent. Finalizing this agreement was the next step.