GoTo.com Is Making New Name for Itself

GoTo.com, which two years ago won a hotly contested $21.5-million trademark-infringement suit against Walt Disney Co.’s Go.com subsidiary, today will announce a name change to Overture Services Inc.

The company’s green-and-yellow logo will be replaced Oct. 8 with blue-and-white concentric circles. The online search engine’s “We Power Results” tag line will change to “Search Performance” and the GOTO ticker symbol on Nasdaq will give way to OVER.

The name change ensures “that we have a name that’s globally trademarkable and defensible” as the company expands overseas,” GoTo.com Chief Operating Officer Jaynie Studenmund said. “We didn’t see major stumbling blocks, but we just couldn’t own [GoTo.com] everywhere.” The company has used the Web address UK.GoTo.com in England, where a software company has rights to the GoTo online name.

Studenmund also said many consumers and potential business partners still have trouble distinguishing GoTo.com from Disney’s like-sounding Web site.

“When I meet people, they say they know what GoTo is--it’s Disney,” Studenmund said. “Now that we’re expanding internationally, we want to fully own our name.”

The name change won’t be noticed by most of GoTo.com’s users because 95% of the Pasadena-based company’s revenue is generated by searches conducted on major portals such as those hosted by America Online Inc., Microsoft Corp., EarthLink Inc. and Alta Vista Co. Though GoTo.com’s search engine is found on those companies’ Web sites, the logo and name generally aren’t visible.

Rather than spending heavily to publicize the name change, GoTo.com is earmarking about $1 million for a direct-mail campaign and industry trade magazine advertising targeting potential advertisers. Unlike many failed dot-coms that spent heavily to build brand awareness, GoTo.com has focused on marketing deals with AOL, Microsoft and other Web site operators.

The Overture name was generated through an internal search, Studenmund said. GoTo.com turned to Chermayeff & Geismar Inc., a New York branding firm, to design the new logo. GoTo.com paid an undisclosed amount to another company for rights to use the Overture name on the Internet.

GoTo.com generates revenue by directing consumers to Web sites that advertisers pay to have included in the company’s search engine. The company’s search engine generated 343 million interactions between consumers and advertisers during the second quarter.

GoTo.com, whose share price is 50% below its 52-week high reached in June, predicts it will meet or beat analysts’ forecasts calling for $1 million in net income on $64 million in third-quarter revenue.

GoTo.com shares closed Friday up $1.44 at $14.95 on Nasdaq.