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Monday, September 30, 2002 |
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Overture Announces Expanded Global Search Relationship With MSN
PASADENA, Calif.--Sept. 30, 2002--Overture Services, Inc. (Nasdaq: OVER), the world`s leading provider of Pay-For-Performance search to Web sites across the Internet, today announced that it has extended and expanded its global search distribution agreements with Microsoft Corp.
Under the extensions, Overture will provide its search results to end-users of the MSN Search Pane and MSN sites through December 2003 and December 2004, respectively, in the U.S., Canada and the UK. The new agreements also have been expanded to include Germany and France. Additionally, the companies will test Overture`s search results in Japan on the MSN Search Pane and MSN site following Overture`s Japanese market launch, which has been accelerated to the fourth quarter of this year.
The MSN Search Pane agreement was due to expire at the end of September of this year, and the MSN Search agreement was due to expire in December 2003. Overture, which began its relationship with Microsoft in September 1998, expects no change to its July 25, 2002 forecast, including traffic acquisition costs, as a result of expanding this relationship.
"Overture is the market leader in Pay-For-Performance search and we are excited to extend our relationship with them," said John Krass, general manager of MSN Search. "Overture`s focus on product quality and support of our long-term needs were key to furthering this relationship and expanding it into new markets."
Search results on the MSN Search Pane and MSN Search will feature Overture`s top three Pay-For-Performance search listings -- generated by its growing worldwide base of 67,000 advertisers -- under the heading "Sponsored Sites." Overture`s search listings are generated by advertisers who bid for placement on keywords relevant to their business. Overture`s editorial team carefully screens these listings before they are distributed to the company`s affiliate partner network of the Internet`s most popular destinations.
"MSN has been strategically important to Overture and we are extremely pleased to extend our long-term agreement with them in the U.S. and internationally," said Bill Demas, senior vice president and general manager, affiliate business, Overture. "MSN is dedicated to providing a high-quality consumer search experience, and we look forward to working with them as they continue to evolve and grow their search product."
About Overture
Overture (Nasdaq:OVER) is the world leader in Pay-For-Performance search on the Internet. The company created the market for Pay-For-Performance search by redefining how businesses market online. In the second quarter of 2002, Overture facilitated 515 million paid introductions on a worldwide basis between consumers and its approximately 67,000 advertisers, who bid for placement on relevant search results and pay Overture only when a consumer clicks on their listing. Following a rigorous screening for user relevance by Overture`s editorial team, the company distributes its search results to tens of thousands of sites across the Internet, including MSN, Lycos and Yahoo! -- making it the largest Pay-For-Performance search and advertising network on the Internet. Overture is based in Pasadena, California, with offices in New York and San Francisco, and subsidiary offices in the UK, Germany, Ireland, France and Japan. 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 users of MSN Search and the MSN Search Pane will continue to use Overture search results, that advertisers and businesses will want to participate in Overture`s search results that appear on MSN Search and the MSN Search Pane by seeking enhanced placement in the search results, that the MSN and Overture test of Overture`s search results on MSN Search and the MSN Search Pane will occur in Japan following Overture`s Japanese market launch and that Overture Japan will successfully launch by the end of 2002. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, that the implementation may not be successful or generate revenue for Overture or yield economic benefits to Overture, the risk that Overture`s advertisers and businesses may not want traffic from MSN Search or the MSN Search Pane, the risk that users of MSN Search and the MSN Search Pane may not use Overture`s search results, the risk that Germany, France and Japan will not grow as quickly as expected, the risk that the MSN test in Japan will not be successful or launch on time, the risk that Overture does not launch successfully in Japan or on time, and the risk that Microsoft changes the implementation of the Search Pane such that the number of Overture results (or the set of Overture results) delivered declines or ceases. 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-Q filing with the SEC for the period ended June 30, 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.
Other product and service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.
CONTACT:
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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