AltaVista Ad Revenue Up 267% for the Year

Digital Equipment Corp. said its AltaVista Search Service reported advertising revenue on the AltaVista site increased 267% in 1997, including 41% growth in the last quarter.

The site now delivers 32 million page views per day to 18 million individual Internet users worldwide, Digital said.

The Maynard, MA-based company also outlined plans to expand AltaVista with new content and e-commerce capabilities.

Said Bob Hult, vice president and general manager of AltaVista: “We believe our recent investments in technology, our continuing improvements in AltaVista’s content organization and search results, and the significant contributions of our advertising partner, DoubleClick Inc., have been the foundation for our success in this dynamic market.”

AltaVista plans to add new zone search areas that will allow access to news, travel, finance, family and health information through a streamlined, easy-to-use interface. Commerce areas will also be implemented, which will enable users to do their shopping on the Internet and make travel arrangements.

AltaVista’s new search zone capabilities will complement other recent content enhancements, including subject-area searches developed in partnership with LookSmart; personal and business search directory capabilities developed with Switchboard Inc.; and an entertainment content area co-produced with One Zero Media (producers of CBS- TV’s “Wild Wild Web,” a syndicated television show about the Internet).