According to a Wall Street Journal report, Yahoo! is expected to drop Google as the primary search technology on its site within a few months. Yahoo was widely expected to dump Google in part because it spent more than $2 billion last year to buy search technology through its acquisitions of Inktomi Corp. and Overture Services Inc.
Yahoo’s Inktomi Search
Yahoo kicked this plan into gear when it purchased Inktomi Corp. on December 23, 2002. Inktomi is the power behind many search engine results. With a large database of indexed web pages, Inktomi generates search results using an algorithmic technology analogous to that of search king (and current Yahoo search result provider) Google. By purchasing Inktomi, Yahoo has cleared the way to divorcing itself from Google..
Inktomi was also attractive to Yahoo because it has a paid-inclusion program in which web site publishers must pay an annual fee to ensure inclusion in the Inktomi database.
Yahoo’s Overture
Overture pioneered the field of paid search listing and with its acquisition, brought Yahoo 88,000+ advertisers.
Yahoo has already expanded “pay-for-Performance search into vertical properties, such as shopping, travel, and yellow pages” while also “integrating contextual advertising throughout Yahoo!’s network, including properties such as in sports, real estate and autos.”
Yahoo also owns FASTSearch and AltaVista, both Overture properties and search engine technologies.
The expected move comes as Google, the No. 1 Web search service, plans to go public this spring.
