Search Engine Journal

Yahoo puts Inktomi to the test | CNET News.com

Yahoo is expanding tests of search technology from its recent Inktomi acquisition in preparation for a global launch, company representatives said Thursday.
Inktomi trials are under way in Australia, Brazil and the United States. The tests make up roughly 2 percent of the search volume in those areas, spokeswoman Diana Lee said.

Lee declined to comment on Yahoo’s future relationship with Google, which currently powers the portal’s algorithmic Web searches. The two companies have not disclosed the exact length of the partnership, but one financial analyst said that the deal is flexible and can be terminated at any time.

Jeff Weiner, Yahoo’s senior vice president of search, said the company has a timeline for implementing Inktomi technology across its global network and that Yahoo is pleased with its progress so far. He did not specify the company’s timeline.

“We have every intention of deploying Inktomi…globally,” Weiner said during a morning keynote speech at the Search Engine Strategies conference here.

Yahoo is testing algorithmic search technology from Inktomi at a time when it’s about to inherit two other Web search products–AltaVista and Fast Search & Transfer–through its $1.7 billion acquisition of Overture Services. The deal is expected to close this fall. At that time, Yahoo will evaluate the worthiness of AltaVista and Fast’s search technology, said Jim Barnett, former CEO of AltaVista and head of Web search for Overture.