Overture Names Executive to Lead Affiliate Partner Business
William Demas Appointed General Manager and Senior Vice President, Affiliate Business
PASADENA, Calif., Aug 12, 2002 -- Overture Services, Inc. (Nasdaq:OVER), the world`s leading provider of Pay-For-Performance search to Web sites across the Internet, announced today that William Demas has been named general manager and senior vice president, affiliate business group. In this role, he will lead the company`s affiliate distribution network, which includes leading search destination sites such as MSN, Yahoo! and Lycos.
Demas brings substantial experience as a general manager and specific expertise in product, technology and relationship management. Before joining Overture, he served as executive vice president, product development and marketing for Vividence Corporation, a leading provider of customer experience management products and services. As a member of Vividence`s executive management team, he led the company`s strategic and operational direction and oversaw their engineering, technical operations, marketing and research divisions.
Prior to joining Vividence, Demas held a variety of prominent roles during his six years with Microsoft Corporation. These roles included managing strategic planning as well as overseeing product marketing on a variety of products including the SQL Server 7 launch as well as consumer and small-business productivity applications, such as Picture It!, Home Essentials and Encarta Encyclopedia. He also held account management positions at IBM`s U.S. marketing and services division. Demas received a B.A. in computer science from Brown University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
"A key part of Overture`s future growth will come from deepening and extending relationships with our partners," said Jaynie Studenmund, chief operating officer. "We are confident that Bill`s deep experience in product, technology and relationship management will be invaluable in driving our business."
Demas is succeeding John Gentry, who has served in this role since June 1999 and will be leaving the company to pursue other interests. Gentry will continue to advise the company on strategy, mergers and acquisitions and affiliate-related business issues through at least the end of 2002.
"We are sorry to see John leave Overture. Over the past three years, he has done an outstanding job in building our extensive distribution network through important long-term partners such as MSN and Yahoo! John has been a key player in creating what we now consider to be the industry standard -- the largest distribution network of Pay-For-Performance listings across the Internet, establishing a strong foundation for Bill to build upon," said Studenmund.
About Overture
Overture (Nasdaq:OVER) is the world`s 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 more than 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 100-person 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 U.K., Germany, Ireland, France and Japan. For more information, visit www.overture.com.
Note: Overture and Pay-For-Performance are service marks of Overture Services, Inc.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements include without limitation statements regarding Overture`s future growth potential and Overture`s ability to deepen and extend relationships with existing partners. 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, demand for Overture`s products and services in the U.S. and overseas will not continue to grow and that affiliates in the U.S. and overseas may not want additional listings or implementations. 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 March 31, 2001. Overture undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this press release.
CONTACT:
Overture Services Inc., Pasadena
Al Duncan, 626/685-5714 (Media)
al@overture.com
Laurie Berman, 626/229-5368 (Investors)
laurie.berman@overture.com
Back...
