Saying it is committed to being a leader in Web search capabilities, Yahoo! Inc. announced today its plans to buy Web search provider Inktomi Corp. for $1.65 per share in cash, or approximately $235 million.
The transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2003.
Inktomi, which recently focused exclusively on Web search, says it recently increased relevance, created a fresher and larger index, added paid inclusion and is utilizing an XML interface and features targeted at understanding user intent for interactions on the Web. Yahoo! Search has seen continued growth in number of users, user retention, number of searches and click-through rates since its search improvements this past October, according to the company. Yahoo! has introduced a series of enhancements to its search business in recent months, including improved relevancy and comprehensiveness of search results by combining Yahoo! Directory and third-party algorithmic search results; enhanced and improved quality of Yahoo!'s most-searched terms, with continued expansion of the number of these enhanced queries; a new version of Yahoo! Companion, an integrated search toolbar that enables consumers to access their personalized browser settings anywhere that they can access the Internet; increased marketing resources invested to continue building Yahoo! Search brand; improved directory matches to offer consumers results within relevant categories; and customized features leveraging Yahoo!'s vertical assets, such as weather, news and stock information directly embedded within search results pages.
