Can Overtures takeover of AltaVista stop Google?
Google continues to leave other search providers floundering. Yet moves are afoot that could begin to change that. The news that search marketing network Overture has snapped up Web search technology company Alta Vista for $140m ([pounds sterling]89m) caused more than a small stir in the vibrant search engine sector. But while Overture was hammering out the details of its acquisition over the past weeks, Google UK snapped up two deals that Overture would have liked to win: to provide BT Open world and NTLworld with search results. The problem for Overture is that while it and Google can both provide portal partners with commercial listings from their networks of advertisers, paying them a cut on click-through, only Google can offer the world’s…
