GoTo.com Raises $6 Million in First Round of Financing

GoTo.com in Pasadena, CA, a search engine that operation that allows Web sites to purchase placement within search results using a real-time bidding process, completed its first round of financing, totaling in excess of $6 million.

Primary investors include Draper Fisher Jurvetson and idealab! Capital Partners.

“These investment partnerships provide GoTo with the resources needed to fully implement our vision of an efficient market for consumer attention,” said Jeffrey Brewer, chief executive officer of GoTo.com.

GoTo.com uses the approach of empowering the marketplace to determine the ranking and relevance of advertiser listings.

As a consequence of the open-market bidding system, GoTo advertisers are aware of the amounts their competitors are bidding for a click-through within the search results for a given search term. Any advertiser can increase a bid for a listing in order to obtain a higher ranking.

The model is similar to a Yellow Pages directory, in which advertisers are accordingly charged for more prominent placement and greater exposure, the company said. However, advertisers pay only for actual visits to their sites.

GoTo, an idealab! spinoff, currently has a beta version of the site online, with consumer launch scheduled for the beginning of June. GoTo.com is planning a major consumer launch for June, backed by a multimillion-dollar marketing campaign.