Search war on as Yahoo! sees profit boom
15 January 2004
The world's most popular Internet site Yahoo! has revealed a 62 per cent profit surge helped by signs of an ongoing recovery in online advertising.
With fourth quarter profits of $75 million, compared to $46.2 million last year, the company results were boosted by its acquisition of search giant Overture.
Offering advertisers the chance to bid for listings on search sites, the company's idea has been snapped up by marketing directors keen to maximise their exposure as advertisers only have to pay when surfer clicks through to their site.
Chairman and chief executive Terry Semel said results were encouraging, but promised more action in the future as Yahoo! takes on Google for increasingly profitable paid for search listings.
Yahoo! revealed yesterday that it was going to drop Google in the first quarter of this year in favour of its own technology, and has predicted a revenue increase of between 25 and 30 per cent in online advertising this year.
The company are also fighting back with an expansion the number of paid for services it offers in Europe, aggressively pushing its Internet music video and radio service and expanding its joint BT Yahoo broadband venture.
By the end of the year the company hopes to increase its number of paying customers from 5 to 7 million subscribers.
Mr Semel said: 'We believe the key to Yahoo!'s long term growth continues to be building and improving products and services essential to our customers' lives.'
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