Yahoo! Selects Google as its Default Search Engine Provider

Yahoo! to Integrate Google’s Advanced Search Technology into Yahoo!’s Network of Properties

SANTA CLARA, Calif. and MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – June 26, 2000 – Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) and Google Inc. today announced they have entered into an agreement that makes Google, one of the fastest growing search engines on the Web, Yahoo!’s® default search results provider. Under the agreement, Google will provide its underlying Web search engine to serve as a complement to Yahoo!’s popular Web directory and navigational guide (www.yahoo.com). Yahoo!, a global Internet communications, commerce, and media company, expects to integrate the services within the next 30 days.

"Our Web directory and navigational guide is critical to the essential set of services that we provide to those who use Yahoo! as an important part of their daily lives. Yahoo! is focused on meeting the needs of these individuals by providing them with high-quality, relevant search results," said Jeff Mallett, president and COO of Yahoo!. "Yahoo! selected Google because they share our strong consumer focus. Google has clearly demonstrated its ability to scale with the rapid growth of the Web, making it a particularly good match for Yahoo! as we continue to expand our global presence. We are very pleased by this agreement."

Google is widely recognized for its award-winning advanced search services, which use powerful technologies to determine the importance and relevance of Web pages. Most recently, Google was a recipient of The Webby Awards’ prestigious Best Technical Achievement award, as well as its People’s Voice Award. Google was also selected as "Best Search Engine on the Internet" by Yahoo! Internet Life; named as one of the "Top Ten Best Cybertech of 1999" by TIME magazine; earned the "Technical Excellence Award" from PC Magazine; and was chosen "Best Search Engine" by The Net. In addition, Google recently was named the No. 1 search engine in a search and portal site tracking study conducted by NPD, a leading independent research company. Google led all search engines with 97 percent of its users indicating that they would recommend Google to a friend.

"Google’s search services help individuals find the information they’re looking for on the Web with unprecedented levels of ease, speed, and relevancy," said Larry Page, co-founder and CEO of Google. "Through this relationship, Yahoo!’s vast audience will now benefit from increased accuracy and rapid return of high-quality, relevant search results." "We’re extremely proud that Yahoo! has selected Google to complement its existing directory and navigational guide," added Sergey Brin, Google cofounder and president. "This is a significant milestone for Google and a strong validation of our business strategy."

Yahoo!, the most popular navigational guide to the Web, was founded on the principle of building a directory around subject-based, demographic and geographic content. Unlike search engines, which use automated "spiders" to electronically crawl the Web to capture and store sites in the search engine’s index, Yahoo!’s staff of experts appropriately categorizes Web sites into an intuitive hierarchical organizational structure. Yahoo!’s directory features content and services within relevant context that can be browsed quickly and easily. The Google search engine will complement these services by providing Yahoo!’s vast audience with additional search capabilities on the Web. Page views generated from Google search results on Yahoo! will become part of Yahoo!’s advertising and merchandising inventory.

About Google Inc.

Google Inc. provides the best Internet search experience, and accomplishes this for millions of users daily by delivering a powerful, fast, and easy-to-use search service for finding the most relevant information. Google powers 76 portal and destination sites worldwide, including international customers in 20 countries: Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Venezuela. A growing number of companies, including Netscape and The Washington Post, rely on Google to power search on their Web sites. A privately held company based in Mountain View, Calif., Google’s investors include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sequoia Capital. For more information about Google, visit www.google.com.

About Yahoo!

Yahoo! Inc. is a global Internet communications, commerce and media company that offers a comprehensive branded network of services to more than 145 million individuals each month worldwide. As the first online navigational guide to the Web, www.yahoo.com is the leading guide in terms of traffic, advertising, household and business user reach, and is one of the most recognized brands associated with the Internet. The company also provides online business services designed to enhance the Web presence of Yahoo!’s clients, including audio and video streaming, store hosting and management, and Web site tools and services. The company’s global Web network includes 22 local World properties outside the United States. Yahoo! has offices in Europe, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Canada and the United States, and is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif.

Press Contacts:

Shannon Stubo, Yahoo! Inc., (408) 530-5144, sstubo@yahoo-inc.com
Cindy McCaffrey, Google Inc., (650) 930-3524, cindy@google.com

###

Yahoo! and the Yahoo! logo are registered trademarks of Yahoo! Inc. Google is a trademark of Google, Inc. All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This news release contains forward-looking statements or predictions. These statements represent our judgment as of this date and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, those associated with economic conditions, government regulations, delays in integration and product development, or other problems. These and other factors are discussed in more depth in both companies’ filings with the SEC, copies of which may be accessed through the SEC’s World Wide Web site at www.sec.gov.

Labels: ,