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Yahoo Buys Overture for $1.63 Billion
securitas writes "Today Yahoo announced it plans to buy search technology company Overture for $1.63 Billion. The move is seen as a way to compete with rivals like Google and MSN, especally in the paid search and advertising category. This takeover occurs following this article about Google and Overture's race to secure partners for its paid search advertising. Other reoprts at CNN Money, ZDNet/CNet, AP via the Washington Post, Reuters, Bloomberg and Dow Jones via Yahoo. Press release at Overture and Yahoo."
Is it too late, has google established such a name for itself that people won't try anything else?
Altavist was popular but full of ads so it was easy to switch because google was ad-free.
Anyways I remember with Yahoo was "partnered" with altavista and it became big enough to be it's own search, hell I remember there being a "search more..." that would link to hotbot and other search engines of the day. Then there was the "partnership" with google, who became big and started to innovate after yahoo promoted them.
I think Yahoo needs to decide if it wants to be a portal or a search engine, because it's trying to be a one-stop-shop. You got games, music, movies, stock, travel, auctions, email, directions, and the kitchen sink. Is ad revenue really that big for these companies?
I stopped using yahoo when I realized that google found what I needed quicker with more precise search words. In essence I switched from yahoo to google because google was better.
Innovate don't just buy out the small fish, that practice is really old and sort of annoying.
Ignore the "p2p is theft" trolls, they're just uninformed
Yahoo should have saved its pennies. Sure, buying Overture improves its position in the paid placement portion of the search market, but what Yahoo really needs is a search function that is on par with Google. People have been defecting from using Yahoo as their primary search engine for years, and they're not about to come back unless Yahoo can offer search results that are comparable to Google.
This acquisition isn't likely to help Yahoo do what it needs most: better searching. Until they achieve better search results, people are going to continue to defect to Google and its brethren.
I don't really use Google because it returns better results. I mean, it returns pretty good results. I manage to find what I need. But I really use Google because, while they do have advertising, their advertising is not obnoxious. It doesn't pop-up, blink, animate, or pretend to be legitimate search results or articles. It *does* occasionally actually pertain to what I'm looking for, as opposed to Yahoo's continued insistance that I need to lose weight and find a man... using, of course, the insanely-expensive Ediets and Yahoo! Personals.
So, in the end, Google would win even if it took me a few minutes longer to find what I wanted, because I can *bear* spending a few minutes on Google. Ten seconds on Yahoo, and my eyes are bleeding.
According to this morning's Wall Street Journal, what we are seeing right now with the NASDAQ is consistent with previous boom and bust investment cycles. It seems that there is a big runup, a big fall, and about 2.5 to 3 years later, a revisiting of the now-despised investments. Eventually, that residual boom dies off too. The expert they cited in the story figures the NASDAQ will peak at around 2400, well above its current 1750-ish level.
Before this is modded offtopic, what this means is that Yahoo!, which has enjoyed a tremendous runup in this recent boom now has some cash to invest. Looks like they are trying to do some expansion like back in the good ol' days when we had AOL buying Time Warner. Look for some other mergers and acquistions unless or until this boomlet ends.
In principio erat Verbum.
This is the latest in a series of buyout announcements that have come along in the last few weeks. It looks like the business community is preparing for economic recovery and these deals are meant to position themselves all the better for it. Most significantly, these deals are coming from several different industries:
Peoplesoft & JD Edwards (software)
Oracle & Peoplesoft (software)
Lehman Brothers & Neuberger Berman (finance)
Yellow Freight & Roadway (trucking)
Boise Cascade & Office Max (office products)
Let's see what the next few months bring, but the mood is definitely shifting.
Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
I never heard anyone who wasn't in a Yahoo commercial use Yahoo as a verb. Ever.
...google gives better results. If now yahoo gives better results i'll switch. The internet is my tool to help me find what i need to know, i'll use the best search engine who ever it is. As for advertising, yes it is nice to see so litle at google but i have learned to ignore all advertising now anyway. A page has them imbedded and I barely notice it.
mainly because they have the usenet archives. There's just so much information there, that you can't get anywhere else.
Also, it really helps that they don't have irritating ads, and that it renders great in lynx.
How on earth is Yahoo!'s gonna compete with that? Seriously, I'd like to know. By using a state-of-the-art search engine? That's not going to cut it, not by a long shot.
Having used Overture, I can safely say that Google will remain the leader in search engine technology.
Here's an example. Search for "linux" using Overture. The results are all paid results, worthless sludge like "training classes" and "hosting providers."
Now search for "linux" using Google. You get relevant, useful results with all sponsored links clearly separated from the good stuff. Of course, most people aren't as smart as me, so they might click the sponsored links. I remain convinced that Google is the best search engine ever.
Thank you.
I'm not Seth Finkelstein. I still speak the truth.
Is Microsoft's software in any way "micro"?
Before personal computers evolved from 8-bit microcomputers ("micros" for short) to the VAX clones we know and love, Microsoft was making software for micros.
Will I retire or break 10K?
some people/businesses with really deep pockets is interested by your bussiness, as you emitted new shares, the part of the company that you and your associates are holding is lowered.
your shareholders see that the value of their shares is going down
everybody is realizing that you need money and they start to investigate on the validity of your projects
Don't you know it is now both immoral and criminal to think beyond the next quarterly report?
It's not too late at all. First, consider how the different search engines changed in popularity over the years. Lycos was big for a while, Alta Vista...no need to list them. I remember getting an email from a friend..."Google has over a million pages indexed!". That was the big news, then I started using it. As have many others. Times can change. And they will. Just because Google is number one now doesn't mean they'll stay entrenched in that spot. It's not like buying software for your computer and then not wanting to switch because you'll have to buy new stuff. Plus, you can always TRY another search engine, and if it's better, then you switch and tell your friends.
This is also interesting because of how all the different engines depend on each other in one way or another for their rankings.
Think about how many web developers, designers, consultants, etc are all bragging about their search engine placement capabilities. Obviously it's the next thing to make money on. The big boys want to make sure they're in there as more and more people are relying on search engines for business.
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lampposts...for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang
of a 'better product' unless there's more people using it? They're giving it away for free in hopes that people will view ads, so *of course* they want more visitors. If google had a $10/year version with no ads, I bet they'd make a load of money off that, AND save bandwidth and processing power (or fit more *real* results in the same bandwidth). Sadly, I suspect that anyone that did this would price it higher than most could afford. $9.95/year *feels* like a good price point to probably a majority of consumers, but I think it'd be priced at $24.95 or $39.95/year or $14.95/month or something insanely greedy. :)
Probably what'll happen is google (or maybe teoma or someone smaller) will try 'ad-free' pages purchased in bulk - like $5 gets you 1000 ad-free results pages or something like that, so I can use them when I want, not on a timed basis (doesn't slashdot have this in place now?)
creation science book
The interesting irony is that if their results turn into Inktomi with Overture ads on top, that'll be exactly what GoTo.com, the company that eventually renamed itself Overture, was.
This IPO decision is more in the hands of their venture capital backers (Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sequoia Capital) than in the hands of the founders. A VC wants to cash out at some time, not hold forever. Once the market for tech IPOs picks up, Google will go public.
I currently use overture to advertise one of my online products. The fact is it would take so long to get my page up on the search rankings that I would miss loads potential revenue for people doing a search for my product. Using overture it costs me $.10 - 1.50 per click depending on the search but the coverage is really good. I pop up on sites I didnt even know existed and I get more downloads then I expected. It is a sad fact but this is the direction the web is going to go. You will have to pay to be seen on the internet or hope that you get the 20,000+ hits to your website to even start to rank in the search list.
As with most everyone else here, Google is my web- searcher of choice. Years ago it was Yahoo, but that is no more.
However, Yahoo is probably the site I use the most. They have tons of other features (news, games, (fantasy) sports, mail, address books, etc etc...), and most of them are free. I haven't found another site on the web that has anywhere near as many comprehensive and well-designed features as Yahoo. So, in the end, I couldn't care less about Yahoo's searching ability, because I don't think of Yahoo as a search engine any more. They're something different. And perhaps it is time for Yahoo to realize that also, and not spend billions of dollars improving the aspects of their site that no one needs anymore.
I think the real question is what will Yahoo! do with all the search engines it now has. If I remember correctly, Yahoo! bought Inktomi not too long ago. Add Overture + FAST/Alltheweb + AltaVisa...
It seems like the market is consolidating into Google vs. Yahoo! vs. Microsoft (There have been rumours of Microsoft developing its own algorithm-based search engine) and couple of other players like AskJeeves.