SAN FRANCISCO -- Overture Services Inc. added more scientific horsepower to its advertising-driven online search engine Tuesday by agreeing to pay up to $100 million for AlltheWeb.com and several other affiliates.
Overture's all-cash takeover of Internet properties developed by Fast Search and Transfer, or FAST, comes a week after announcing plans to buy search engine pioneer AltaVista for $140 million in cash and stock.
In the latest deal, Overture is paying Norway-based FAST $70 million this year and up to $30 million over the next three years if certain financial targets are hit. FAST is retaining a larger division that licenses search tools to the Web sites of businesses.
The acquisitions herald Overture's expansion beyond its lucrative specialty of auctioning search result rankings to the highest bidders.
Although Overture isn't well known, its ad-driven search engine has become a pervasive force online, with its results appearing in queries conducted on popular Web sites like Yahoo and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN.
Splitting up the money from advertisers that bid for customer leads has turned into one of the Internet's boom businesses. The concept is expected to generate $1.5 billion to $2 billion in revenue this year and another $3 billion next year.
By adding the algorithmic search tools developed by AltaVista and FAST, Pasadena-based Overture thinks it can offer prospective customers a complete package of services.<
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Dirk van Ulden said:
CA Is Burning said:
Dirk, both the DOJ and the Florida AG are investigating the issue.
CA Is Burning said:
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