Overture

GoTo.com, later known as Overture, was a pioneer in the online advertising industry, particularly known for developing the pay-per-click (PPC) model of internet advertising. This model allows advertisers to bid on keywords, with the highest bidders receiving the most prominent ad placements on search engine results pages. Overture's business model fundamentally changed online advertising by directly linking the cost of an advertisement to its effectiveness, measured by how many clicks the ad received. This approach was highly influential, and the company’s success prompted major search engines, including Google and Yahoo!, to develop their own PPC systems. Yahoo! eventually acquired Overture in 2003 for $1.63 billion.