Overture Kicks Off 2003 International Expansion
New Search Services Center in Ireland Strengthens Company`s Market Leadership Position
PASADENA, Calif.--April 14, 2003--Overture Services, Inc. (Nasdaq:OVER), the global leader in commercial search services on the Internet, today announced that it has expanded its European headquarters in Ireland, initiating its previously announced plan to enter at least seven new markets across Europe and Asia in 2003.
Building on its market-leading position in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Japan, Overture will continue its international growth later this month when the company launches its commercial search service in South Korea. In addition, Overture plans to expand into Italy later in the second quarter, followed by Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and Scandinavia before the end of the year.
As part of its global growth strategy, Overture has opened a new search services and operations center at its European headquarters in Dublin, which also houses its European finance, accounting and technology teams. The search services center provides the company with a strong platform to serve its existing subsidiaries in the UK, Germany and France. It also will support Overture`s entry into new European countries by leveraging important economies of scale in one central location to better serve the growing market for advanced search products and services.
"Global expansion is a key growth strategy for Overture and we are committed to developing a complete and scalable infrastructure to support this goal," said Johannes Larcher, general manager, Overture International. "As one of Europe`s fastest-growing economies, Ireland offers Overture a skilled labor force, competitive cost environment, and an ideal platform to further expand into Europe."
The Dublin headquarters will employ a multi-national workforce that includes nearly 100 editorial, customer service, accounting and technology employees by the end of the year. The localization of core client services in Dublin provides Overture important competitive advantages. Overture will offer its growing base of advertisers world-class service, including telephone and e-mail support, to help maximize their search campaigns. Affiliate partners and their users will benefit from high-quality search results that are customized for individual European markets through a multi-lingual editorial team.
The company`s headquarters in Pasadena, Calif. previously provided Overture`s European customer service and editorial capabilities. In addition to Dublin, Overture maintains customer operations centers in Tokyo and Seoul. These regional centers will work closely with a Pasadena-based, international editorial and operations planning team that develops global search standards and administers quality-assurance programs.
In preparation for a second-quarter launch in Italy, Overture said it has opened an office in Milan and appointed Gianluca Carrera as managing director of Overture Italy. Carrera brings nearly a decade of experience in the financial markets and business development. Prior to joining Overture, Carrera co-founded and led Godado.com, a pan-European pay-for-performance search provider. Previously, he worked at Salomon Brothers and Citibank.
About Overture
Overture is the global leader in commercial search services on the Internet, providing marketers with new and more powerful ways to connect with customers. Through its core search product, the company operates a real-time marketplace where its base of 80,000 advertisers bid for placement in its search results after Overture`s editorial team screens listings for relevance. These results are then distributed to Overture`s thousands of affiliate partners including MSN, Yahoo! and CNN, reaching approximately 80 percent of active, U.S. Internet users. In 2002, Overture facilitated 2.2 billion paid introductions on a worldwide basis between consumers and its advertisers. Overture is based in Pasadena, California, with U.S. offices in New York and San Francisco. The company`s European headquarters are in Ireland, with offices in the UK, Germany, France and Italy. Overture also operates in Asia with offices in Japan and South Korea. For more information, visit www.overture.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements include without limitation statements that potential Web site partners and their users will want to use Overture search results, that advertisers and businesses will want to participate in Overture`s search results by seeking enhanced placement in the search results and the ability of these transactions to generate meaningful revenue. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, that Overture`s products and technologies may not successfully work with those of Overture`s or other third parties in South Korea, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and Scandinavia, the launch of Overture in South Korea, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and Scandinavia may not happen in a timely manner or may not happen at all, the implementation may not be successful or generate revenue for Overture or yield economic benefits to Overture or our partners in South Korea, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and Scandinavia, the risk that Overture`s advertisers and businesses may not want traffic from Overture`s international partners or users may not click on Overture`s search results. For a discussion of other risks that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from such forward-looking statements, see the discussion of "Risks That Could Affect Our Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in Overture`s 10-K filing with the SEC for the period ended December 31, 2002. Overture undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this press release.
Overture and Pay-For-Performance are servicemarks of Overture Services, Inc.
Contacts:
Overture Services, Inc.
Al Duncan, 626/685-5714 (Media)
al@overture.com
Laurie Berman, 626-/229-5368 (Investors)
laurie.berman@overture.com
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