Here is one from our “wayback” series.

GoTo.com was a trailblazer in the world of internet search engines. Conceived and developed at Idealabs, it was launched in 1997 with a goal to improve search on the web​. The major players in the search engine world were focusing on different aspects, diluting their core search experience with mail services, editorial content, and link lists. However, GoTo decided to streamline and focus solely on the search experience, a direction that would later be emulated by Google​

Revolutionary Business Model

GoTo shook up the tech world with its bold new concept of a search engine powered entirely by advertising. Each search result on GoTo was a sponsored one, with advertisers able to purchase results for whatever keywords they wanted. This idea was seen as radical and even abhorrent by many in the tech world at the time, as it went against the ideal of ad-free, organic search results. However, GoTo’s founder, Bill Gross, saw it as a practical solution to the spamming problem that was compromising the integrity of search results.

GoTo built a marketplace for results, allowing advertisers to bid against each other for higher placement under certain search keywords. Each result started at 1 cent, with the hope that over time, valuable keywords would be worth far more than that. This strategy is where the concept of “pay-per-click” originated. It was clear to users that each result was sponsored, and this transparency was a cornerstone of their business model.

Attracting Users and Becoming Profitable

Initially, GoTo attracted users to its search engine by buying results on other content portals like Yahoo or AOL and directing those visitors to GoTo. While this strategy didn’t bring in profits at first, Gross predicted that due to the bidding model, the value of sponsored results would increase over time, and he was right. By mid-1998, GoTo was highly profitable, with an incredibly successful IPO in 1999 that brought in tens of millions of dollars in funding almost instantly.

Transition to Overture

After the IPO, GoTo began syndicating its results to other search engines and content platforms. This meant that sites like AOL, Excite, and Yahoo would include links from GoTo, and if users clicked through, some of the money would go to the platform, and some to GoTo. This strategy turned out to be particularly lucrative and led to a shift in the company’s focus. They changed their name to Overture in 1999, and concentrated entirely on boosting their syndicated traffic with high stakes partners, acting as a sort of middleman between advertisers and search engines.

Acquisition by Yahoo

Overture continued to grow over the next few years, acquiring other search engines like Alta Vista and AllTheWeb in 2003. Eventually, Yahoo, realizing that a significant portion of their revenue was coming from their partnership with Overture, decided to acquire Overture for over a billion dollars in 2003.

Legacy

Though GoTo, later Overture, eventually faded away, its influence on the growth and development of search engines is undeniable. Despite not being widely beloved by the public or the press, it had a massive influence, particularly in shaping the business model of search engines, paving the way for the ad-powered model that we see in many search engines today..

“goto.com search engine frisbee” by tiarescott is licensed under CC BY 2.0.