Houston, Oct 08: San Francisco-based Internet search engine company, Looksmart, has announced that Microsoft will not renew its distribution and licensing agreement beyond January 15, 2004. Looksmart said in a release that this announcement has caused a big blow to it as Microsoft was its largest customer.
The relationship with the MSN Internet division accounted for 68 per cent of Looksmart's listings revenue and all of its licensing revenue in the second quarter ended June 30, according to the search technology company. Looksmart reported revenue of USD 38.4 million in that quarter.
According to Jason Kellerman, its chief executive, “Despite losing a key partner, Looksmart will maintain its focus on the search business, leveraging the first integrated paid inclusion and pay-for-placement solution for advertisers.
“We will continue to provide search results for MSN until the conclusion of or agreement while aggressively pursuing the opportunities before us."
Both companies will remain partners until January 15, after which Looksmart's listings will no longer appear in the directory layer of search results on the MSN web site. Given that timeframe, Looksmart said it will not revise its 2003 revenue projections.
Bureau Report