The company, speaking at its annual analysts’ day, said it is working on integrating AltaVista’s search engine with that of the web search unit of Fast Search & Transfer ASA, which it also acquired earlier this year.
Overture said the paid-inclusion products of both businesses will be unified within 90 days. The algorithmic search integration, which involves consolidating the AltaVista and Fast server farms, will be finished before the end of the year.
In the meantime, Overture is planning to expand into Italy, and to start offering a new advertising product that places text ads on non-search content pages, mimicking a service of upstart rival Google Inc.
Most of the AltaVista layoffs are in sales and finance, Overture said. It’s hopefully the final slap in the face for AltaVista, which suffered multiple rounds of layoffs during its years suffocating within CMGI’s stable of largely unsuccessful dot-com businesses.
Source: Computerwire
