Inktomi

Inktomi Corporation was an American Internet software company founded in January 1996 by University of California, Berkeley professor Eric Brewer and graduate student Paul Gauthier. The company grew out of a web-search technology developed at Berkeley and initially became prominent by supplying search infrastructure rather than relying solely on a consumer-facing destination site. HotBot was the first search engine to use Inktomi's search technology, helping establish the company as an important behind-the-scenes provider during the rapid expansion of the commercial Web. The company’s name was derived from Iktomi, the trickster spider of Lakota tradition, and was pronounced “INK-tuh-me.” Its visual identity included a nested, three-color cube logo created by Tom Lamar in 1996. Inktomi positioned itself as an infrastructure provider or “arms merchant” for Internet businesses. Its technologies were used by or supplied to customers and partners including Microsoft, HotBot, Amazon.com, eBay, Walmart, and major Internet service providers such as AOL. Inktomi’s original search business expanded into adjacent areas. The company developed Traffic Server, a proxy server and Web-cache platform designed to handle World Wide Web traffic and on-demand streaming media. The system could transcode images into smaller files for users connecting through dial-up services, making it relevant to large ISPs managing bandwidth and performance. Inktomi also pursued shopping search, enterprise search, load balancing, content distribution, video workflow, and live-streaming software through a series of acquisitions. The company went public in June 1998, raising $36 million. Its strong position in search led to partnerships involving Microsoft, Yahoo!, and Disney. Between 1998 and 2001, Inktomi made several acquisitions, including C2B Technologies for shopping-search capabilities, Impulse Buy Network for merchant coverage, Webspective for distributed-server content management and load balancing, Ultraseek Server from Go.com, FastForward Networks for live-streaming distribution, the Content Bridge business unit from Adero, and eScene Networks for video-content workflow and publishing. Inktomi’s growth was closely tied to the Internet investment boom. Its share price reached a reported peak of $241 in March 2000, but the bursting of the dot-com bubble weakened the company’s financial position and market prospects. In 2001, a publicly accessible database containing more than one million spam websites exposed weaknesses in the handling of one of the company’s search-related data resources. In 2002, Inktomi was restructured under the leadership of Keyur Patel. The company sold its Ultraseek Server business, renamed Inktomi Enterprise Search, to Verity and focused on a smaller set of infrastructure assets. Yahoo! acquired the remaining company for $1.63 per share, or approximately $241 million, in a transaction completed on March 19, 2003. This ended Inktomi as an independent public company and brought its search and Internet infrastructure technology into Yahoo!’s operations. Later technology lineage continued through other owners and open-source projects: Websense acquired technology behind the Inktomi Proxy Server in 2006, and Yahoo! donated Traffic Server to the Apache Software Foundation in 2009. Inktomi therefore remains historically significant as an early provider of large-scale search and network-infrastructure software, even though the original company is defunct.

Inktomi was established in January 1996 by Eric Brewer and Paul Gauthier at the University of California, Berkeley. Its foundation was a university-developed Web search engine, and the company’s first significant deployment was HotBot, which used Inktomi’s search technology. Rather than building its identity exclusively around a consumer search portal, Inktomi developed software and infrastructure that could be licensed or integrated by major Internet companies and service providers. The company expanded quickly during the late-1990s Internet boom. It raised $36 million in a June 1998 initial public offering, and the performance of HotBot helped attract relationships with Microsoft, Yahoo!, and Disney. In September 1998, Inktomi acquired C2B Technologies for $95 million in stock, adding shopping-search capabilities. It followed that transaction with the April 1999 acquisition of Impulse Buy Network, which brought roughly 400 merchants into its shopping-engine operation. In November 1999, it acquired Webspective for $106 million in stock. Webspective’s technology supported the management of content across distributed servers and was intended to strengthen load balancing. Inktomi also pursued a broader Internet infrastructure strategy. In 1999, chief executive David Peterschmidt described the company as an “arms merchant” for content-delivery providers. Its revenue model could involve a percentage of sales and/or pay-per-click arrangements. The company’s Traffic Server product served as a proxy server and Web cache for ordinary Web traffic and on-demand streaming media. It could reduce image sizes for dial-up users, making it useful to ISPs seeking to conserve bandwidth and improve response times. Traffic Server was deployed by large providers including AOL. The acquisition program continued into 2000 and 2001. In August 2000, Inktomi purchased Ultraseek Server from Go.com, the Internet business associated with The Walt Disney Company. In September, it acquired FastForward Networks for $1.3 billion in stock. FastForward specialized in software for distributing live streaming media through application-level multicast techniques. In December 2000, Inktomi acquired the Content Bridge business unit from Adero, linking the company to a broader content-delivery initiative. In July 2001, it acquired eScene Networks, whose software supported the management and publication of video content. The company’s trajectory changed after the dot-com bubble burst. In March 2000, its stock had reportedly reached $241 per share, but the collapse of Internet-sector valuations placed pressure on its acquisition-led expansion and business model. In October 2001, Search Engine Watch reported that Inktomi had accidentally exposed a database containing more than one million spam websites. The database could be reached through a search result on the competing AllTheWeb service, and the episode illustrated the operational and reputational risks surrounding large search indexes and anti-spam systems. In 2002, Inktomi was restructured under Keyur Patel, who joined the company as an investor and senior vice president responsible for strategy, marketing, and technology. The restructuring narrowed the company’s activities. Its Ultraseek Server product was renamed Inktomi Enterprise Search and sold to Verity in late 2002. Inktomi then agreed to sell the remaining business to Yahoo! for $1.63 per share, or approximately $241 million. Yahoo! completed the transaction on March 19, 2003, bringing Inktomi’s remaining search and infrastructure assets into Yahoo! and ending the company as an independent entity. The technology associated with Inktomi continued to circulate after the acquisition. In 2006, Websense acquired technology behind the Inktomi Proxy Server and modified it for inclusion in the Websense Security Gateway. In 2009, Yahoo! donated Traffic Server to the Apache Software Foundation. As a result, Inktomi’s corporate history ended in 2003, but parts of its technical legacy continued through commercial security products and an open-source Apache project.

• 2009

  Traffic Server donated to Apache

  [1]Inktomien.wikipedia.org

  Yahoo! transferred Traffic Server technology to the Apache Software Foundation.

• 2003

  Yahoo! acquisition completed

  [1]Inktomien.wikipedia.org

  Yahoo! completed its acquisition of Inktomi on March 19, ending the company’s independent operations.

• 2002

  Restructuring and asset reduction

  [1]Inktomien.wikipedia.org

  Inktomi restructured after the dot-com collapse and sold its enterprise-search business to Verity.

• 2001

  Spam database exposure

  [1]Inktomien.wikipedia.org

  A search result on AllTheWeb exposed access to a large Inktomi database of spam websites.

• 2000

  FastForward Networks acquisition

  [1]Inktomien.wikipedia.org

  The stock-based acquisition expanded Inktomi into live streaming-media distribution.

• 1999

  Impulse Buy Network acquisition

  [1]Inktomien.wikipedia.org

  The transaction expanded the company’s shopping-search merchant network.

• 1999

  Webspective acquisition

  [1]Inktomien.wikipedia.org

  Inktomi added distributed-server content-management and load-balancing technology.

• 1998

  Initial public offering

  [1]Inktomien.wikipedia.org

  Inktomi raised $36 million in its June initial public offering.

• 1998

  C2B Technologies acquisition

  [1]Inktomien.wikipedia.org

  The acquisition added shopping-engine technology to Inktomi’s portfolio.

• 1996

  Inktomi is founded

  [1]Inktomien.wikipedia.org

  Eric Brewer and Paul Gauthier founded Inktomi at the University of California, Berkeley around university-developed Web-search technology.

Enterprise and Internet infrastructure software provider supplying search, caching, content delivery, streaming, and related technologies to large online services, ISPs, and commercial Internet businesses.

• Web search infrastructure · 1996

  Inktomi search technology

  Inktomi’s original search platform grew out of research at the University of California, Berkeley. It powered HotBot and was made available to major online partners, including Microsoft, Yahoo!, and Disney. The technology positioned Inktomi as a backend search provider during the formative commercial-Web period rather than merely as a consumer search destination.

• Proxy server and Web cache

  Traffic Server

  Traffic Server was a proxy-server and caching platform for Web traffic and on-demand streaming media. It could transcode images into smaller versions for dial-up users and was deployed by large Internet service providers, including AOL. Yahoo! later donated the technology to the Apache Software Foundation, where its development continued outside the original company.

• Shopping search · 1998

  Shopping search engine

  Inktomi expanded into shopping search through the acquisition of C2B Technologies and later Impulse Buy Network. The business combined shopping-engine capabilities with a merchant network and could support percentage-of-sales and pay-per-click revenue models.

• Enterprise search

  Ultraseek Server

  Ultraseek Server was acquired from Go.com in 2000 and became part of Inktomi’s enterprise-search portfolio. Before being sold to Verity in late 2002, it was renamed Inktomi Enterprise Search.

• Live streaming distribution · 2000

  FastForward Networks technology

  FastForward Networks developed software for distributing live streaming media over the Internet using application-level multicast techniques. Inktomi acquired the company in 2000 as part of its effort to broaden from search into network and media-delivery infrastructure.

• Video-content workflow · 2001

  eScene Networks technology

  eScene Networks supplied software for integrated management and publishing workflows for video content. Inktomi acquired the company in 2001, extending its portfolio toward online video operations.

• 2001

  Exposure of Inktomi’s spam-site database

  Search Engine Watch reported that Inktomi had inadvertently allowed public access to a database containing more than one million spam websites. The database was exposed through a result on AllTheWeb, a competing search engine. The incident raised concerns about access controls and the handling of search-quality data, although the available reference does not specify a fine, lawsuit, or other formal penalty.

  Source

Read more

• 2009

  Donation of Traffic Server to ApacheOther

  Background

  After Yahoo!’s ownership of the technology, Traffic Server remained a potentially useful Internet infrastructure project.

  Action taken

  Yahoo! donated Traffic Server technology to the Apache Software Foundation.

  Aftermath

  The technology continued as an open-source project beyond Inktomi’s corporate life.

  Source

• 2002

  Post-dot-com restructuringStrategy

  Background

  The collapse of the dot-com market weakened demand and investor confidence across Internet software companies.

  Action taken

  Under Keyur Patel, Inktomi restructured its operations and sold Ultraseek Server, renamed Inktomi Enterprise Search, to Verity.

  Aftermath

  The company narrowed its activities and subsequently agreed to sell its remaining business to Yahoo!

  Source

• 2002

  Agreement to sell Inktomi to Yahoo!M&A

  Background

  Following restructuring and the post-bubble downturn, Inktomi pursued a sale of its remaining business.

  Action taken

  Yahoo! agreed to acquire Inktomi for $1.63 per share, or approximately $241 million.

  Aftermath

  The transaction closed on March 19, 2003, ending Inktomi’s independent corporate existence.

  Acquisition consideration. $1.63 per share; approximately $241 million total (Agreement announced in 2002; completed March 19, 2003)

  Source

• 2000

  Acquisition of FastForward NetworksM&A

  Background

  Inktomi sought to strengthen its role in streaming-media distribution and Internet delivery infrastructure.

  Action taken

  The company acquired FastForward Networks in a stock transaction valued at $1.3 billion.

  Aftermath

  FastForward’s live-streaming technology became part of Inktomi’s wider infrastructure portfolio during the peak of the Internet investment cycle.

  Reported transaction value. $1.3 billion in stock (2000)

  Source

• 1999

  Positioning as an Internet infrastructure supplierStrategy

  Background

  As content-delivery networks and large online services expanded, Inktomi sought to provide enabling software rather than compete only as a consumer search destination.

  Action taken

  Chief executive David Peterschmidt described Inktomi as an “arms merchant” to content-delivery providers, with revenue potentially tied to sales percentages or pay-per-click arrangements.

  Aftermath

  The strategy supported expansion into caching, content delivery, shopping, streaming, and related infrastructure, but also contributed to a broad acquisition program during the dot-com boom.

  Source

1. 1Inktomien.wikipedia.org