Antivirus maker AVG announced on Thursday that it has formed a new Search and Distribution relationship with Yahoo. AVG’s Secure Search offering is now powered by Yahoo. This is interesting, considering that Yahoo’s own search is powered by Bing.

AVG CEO JR Smith said, “AVG is excited to team up with Yahoo! to help provide Internet users with peace of mind when searching the web or accessing their favorite online properties. This relationship represents a shift from the company’s previous strategy of entering into exclusive search agreements in its search and advertising services business. Consumers have many choices when it comes to how they access the Internet, and our objective is simply to keep them secure, each step of the way.”

Yahoo SVP of Connections Shashi Seth added, “Internet users everywhere want to be able to access online content easily without having to worry about security threats. We’re committed to providing a rich search experience to AVG users and see this relationship as a strategic way for us to enrich and broaden our search footprint moving forward.”

AVG Secure Search is aimed at protecting people from “dangerous websites and online threats,” and utilizes the company’s LinkScanner technology. Here’s a bit more about the product from AVG’s site:

AVG Secure Search alerts you before you visit dangerous webpages to make sure your identity, personal information, and computer are protected. In addition, our integrated AVG Do Not Track brings the control over your privacy back to you.

AVG says it provides Intenet and mobile security to 143 million active users.

According to the latest numbers from comScore, Yahoo’s share of the core search market in the U.S. is on the decline, dropping 0.1% year-over-year to 12.1%