Overture Acquires AlltheWeb.com Search Engine

Posted on March 7, 2003

Overture Services, Inc., a provider of pay-for-performance search, announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the web search unit of Norway-based Fast Search & Transfer. This deal includes the AlltheWeb.com search engine. The deal is expected to close by April. This acquisition, combined with Overture's previously announced plans to purchase the business of AltaVista Company, helps Overture compete with search leader Google.com. Overture now competes with Google both in search technologies and pay-per-click search advertising.

"Search is in a rapid growth phase which we believe will continue for years to come," said Ted Meisel, Overture's president and chief executive officer. "Offering a broader, more complete range of products and services to our distribution network and advertisers will allow us to capitalize on that growth and build on the strong competitive advantages we already possess. Combining AltaVista and FAST's Web search business provides us with what we believe is the quickest and most cost effective path to market."

Founded in 1997, FAST is based in Oslo, Norway and has operations in the United States, Norway, Germany, the UK and Japan. The acquisition includes FAST Web Search algorithmic search, AlltheWeb.com, and FAST PartnerSite paid inclusion services. The company said it plans to further enhance the paid inclusion products currently offered by FAST and AltaVista and intends to provide its advertisers with the benefits of consolidated reporting, billing, and a single interface for campaign management for both paid placement and paid inclusion products.

"The quality of Internet search is a key factor in determining consumer loyalty to a Web site, and today most sites fail to deliver information seekers with exactly what they are looking for on a consistent basis," said John Lervik, FAST's chief executive officer. "At FAST, we have worked hard to perfect world-class technology capable of closing the quality gap in search. The combination of Overture's and FAST's Web search business supports our focused strategy of delivering real-time information solutions for global customers."

Overture said it will utilize both the FAST and AltaVista sites to advance the company's product development process. The company will use FAST's technology showcase site, AlltheWeb.com, to test and experiment with advanced approaches in search. At the same time, the company will use the AltaVista.com site, which operates on a larger scale, to refine implementations for new products and improve presentation to consumers.

To support the company's next generation Web search plans, Overture announced named Dr. Gary Flake as its chief science officer to lead the company's research and development team. Dr. Flake will lead Overture's research and development efforts, focusing on creating a next generation of search built upon AltaVista's, FAST's and Overture's technologies. Prior to joining Overture, he was a research scientist at NEC Research Institute and the leader of its Web data-mining program.