Podcasts Technology Acquired Episode 33: Overture (with the Internet History Podcast!)

Episode 33: Overture (with the Internet History Podcast!)

Published: March 13, 2017, 4:33 p.m.

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Episode 33: Overture (with the Internet History Podcast!)\\xa0 \\xa0 Ben & David dive deep into the early days of internet search, with the help of the best in the internet history business: Brian McCullough from the Internet History Podcast! We are huge fans of IHP at Acquired, so this was a real treat to collaborate with Brian and the great work he does over there. In this episode we cover the story of how a small incubator in Southern California spawned perhaps the greatest tech business model of all-time, Yahoo!\\u2019s fumbling of that golden opportunity, and Google\\u2019s recovery of that fumble to cross into the end zone of tech history behind the biggest moat ever constructed on the internet. \\xa0

Sponsors:
Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta
Crusoe: https://bit.ly/acquiredcrusoe
Modern Treasury: https://bit.ly/acquiredmoderntreasury


Topics covered include:\\xa0
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  • Overture\\u2019s origins as part of the Idealab incubator run by famed early internet entrepreneur Bill Gross\\n
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  • Invention of the paid search business model\\u2026 initially by returning ADS ONLY in response to search queries
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  • The eventual marrying of Overture\\u2019s paid search (ads) with organic search results via syndication on other properties like Yahoo!
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  • Revenue from Overture\\u2019s ad partnership saving Yahoo!\\u2019s business after the internet bubble burst\\xa0
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  • Yahoo!\\u2019s eventual acquisition of Overture for $1.4B in 2003\\xa0
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  • But\\u2026 the really interesting story here: Overture\\u2019s \'inspiration\' of Google\\u2019s business model and the creation of "the greatest advertising machine in the history of the world"
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  • The original (pre-Overture) Google business model: selling a box!\\xa0
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  • Google\\u2019s differentiation vs Overture: focusing on the long tail, ad quality scores, and an advertiser-friendly auction structure\\n
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  • Google\\u2019s first major search syndication victory over Overture: AOL\\n
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  • Yahoo!\\u2019s failed attempt to buy Google for $3B in 2002, leading it to settle for acquiring Overture instead the following year
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  • \\u201cProject Panama\\u201d at Yahoo!, and its impact on the tech and internet history\\n
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  • Overture\'s (and later Yahoo!\\u2019s) lawsuit against Google for stealing the paid search business model\\u2014 "the O.G. version of Snapchat and Instagram\\u201d
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  • Paul Graham\\u2019s take on "What Happened to Yahoo?\\u201d
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  • Perhaps the most important technology to come out of this whole episode: Hadoop\\n
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  • The power of incentive alignment in marketplaces\\u2014 and creating the widest and deepest moats on the internet
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\\xa0 The Carve Out:\\xa0

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