GoTo.com Adds 5,000 Advertisers in Two Months

Pay for placement search engine GoTo.com said it has added about 5,000 new advertisers to its program, a 50 percent increase since June 1999, bringing the advertiser base to more than 15,000.

The company also has launched two new payment programs for advertisers and the “Net Pricing” program for advertising agencies.

In the second quarter of 1999, GoTo said it provided its advertisers with more than 31 million click-throughs to self-qualified consumers, more than twice the number from the previous quarter.

In a recent custom report, Media Metrix reported GoTo.com’s July network reach to be more than 12 million unique visitors, including all traffic directly visiting the GoTo.com site or visiting a site using GoTo’s Search Syndication Network.

The “Net Pricing” program provides a 15 percent commission to recognized agencies whose clients advertise on GoTo.

It also offers extends payment terms to 80 days recognizing that agencies need greater flexibility in billing because of their representative relationships.

The other new programs are a “Non-Stop Traffic” plan that enables advertisers to pre-authorize an ongoing payment for the traffic they receive; and the “Fixed Budget” program that allows advertisers to select a fixed monthly payment, and manage their advertising expenditures against the pre-determined amounts.

GoTo.com advertisers bid in an ongoing auction for priority placement in the search results with the highest bidder’s site appearing first in the results.

Each advertiser pays GoTo.com the amount of its bid whenever a consumer clicks on an advertiser’s listing in the search results.