Search engines: A timeline

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1995 Alta Vista search launches inside Digital Equipment. April 11, 1996 Yahoo prices at $1.83. June 1998 Inktomi goes public at $4.15.

Market cap at IPO was $370 mln. Dec. 1998 InfoSpace goes public at $15.

June 1999 GoTo.com goes public at $4.15 (market cap at IPO was $370 mln). Oct. 8, 2001 GoTo.com changes its name to Overture Services.

Aug. 1999 LookSmart goes public at $12. Aug.

1999 CMGI buys 83 percent of Alta Vista for $2.3 bln in stock, plus bonds. Nov. 1 3, 2002 Alta Vista relaunches its search site.

April 1, 1996 Lycos goes public at $4. Oct. 30, 2000 Terra Networks buys Lycos for $46.40 per share or $5.1 bln.

Dec. 2002 Yahoo announces purchase of Inktomi for $233 mln in cash. March 20, 2003 Yahoo completes purchase of Inktomi.

April 7, 2003 Yahoo revamps its search functionality. June 1999 Ask Jeeves goes public at $14. March 4, 2003 Ask Jeeves says it's buying Interactive Search Holdings for $343 mln.

April 21, 2003 Ask Jeeves unveils its new look. April 28, 2003 Overture completes purchase of Alta Vista for $106 mln in stock and cash. June 19, 2003 Microsoft tests its own Web crawler.

July 1, 2004 MSN to recast search to make algorithmic ... more. less.

searches more prominent. Oct. 7, 2003 Yahoo completes purchase of Overture for $2.2 bln in stock and cash. April 29, 2004 Google files for $2.7 bln IPO. July 26, 2004 Google updates IPO filing. It plans to raise $3.3 billion by offering shares priced between $108 and $135. Week of Aug. 9, 2004 Official launch of Google IPO. March 11, 2004 Yahoo maps meet Yellow Pages. Jan. 1996 Google founders collaborate on search engine called BackRub. Sept. 7, 1998 Google opens its doors. Oct. 7, 1998 Google answers 10,000 search queries. Jan. 2001 Google answers more than 100 million searches per day. March 29, 2004 Google launches Froogle. April 4, 1996 Excite goes public at $8.50. May 1999 Excite merges with AtHome for $6.5 bln. Sept. 28, 2001 ExciteAtHome goes bankrupt. Search engines: A timeline © 2004 MarketWatch.com, Inc.

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