Kirby - 6:35 am on Jan 26, 2006 (gmt 0)

>That statement is just wrong.

Only with regard to the dollars actually spent. Otherwise it is dead on! In fact, it was their stated goal when they bought INK:

Sunnyvale, CA -- Dec. 23, 2002 -- Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - News), a leading global Internet company, and Inktomi Corp. (Nasdaq:INKT - News) , a leading Web search provider, today announced they have signed a definitive agreement under which Yahoo! will acquire Inktomi for a purchase price of $1.65 per share in cash. The transaction reflects an aggregate purchase price of approximately $235 million, adjusted for Inktomi's expected cash balance net of debt, as of December 31, 2002. "Yahoo!'s vast reach and its unmatched breadth and depth of services, combined with Inktomi's outstanding engineering expertise and leading search technology, will help us achieve our goal of providing users with the most comprehensive, relevant and highest quality search solutions on the Web," said Terry Semel, Yahoo! chairman and CEO. "The addition of Inktomi's search platform adds both control and flexibility to this important business, thus enhancing our ability to create new and more innovative search offerings for consumers and businesses." "Since 1996, Inktomi's foundation has been the Web search business and we have grown it significantly with our core customers and new paid inclusion partners while focusing on extending and innovating our technology," said David Peterschmidt, Inktomi chairman and CEO. "Today's announcement matches our premier Web search technology and team with Yahoo!'s global reach and commitment to providing the best user experience on the Web, bringing us closer to achieving our mutual goal of making the Inktomi-Yahoo! search offering the standard bearer for searching on the Web."