Dulles, Virginia - ( Website Hosting Directory ) - January 11, 2006 - America Online, Inc. has acquired Internet video search pioneer Truveo, Inc. - thus solidifying AOL's leadership position as the premier destination for a full suite of video and search services.
AOL's acquisition agreement with Truveo was signed and closed on December 21, 2005. Financial terms were not disclosed. Truveo was previously privately held, and financed by strategic venture and angel investors.
Truveo was co-founded by CEO Dr. Tim Tuttle and CTO Dr. Adam Beguelin in January 2004. Truveo subsequently launched its premier video search engine technology in September 2005.
Truveo's approach to video search utilizes a proprietary web crawling technology called "Visual Crawling". This unique technology has enabled Truveo to amass one of the most comprehensive indexes of high-quality, current video on the web. The strength of Truveo's Visual Crawling is its ability to automatically discover video files and related information on complex, dynamic web pages - a task that has been notoriously challenging for existing conventional crawling technologies. Truveo's technology continuously crawls the most popular video content sites on the web in real-time to provide consumers with the most updated and relevant results that include breaking news, sports, and entertainment video. And, as a result of this unique approach, Truveo's video search engine includes a large selection of popular video that cannot be found in any other search engine - helping consumers to find the 'eureka' moment in their online video search experience every single time.
According to the company, the acquisition of Truveo by AOL complements and enhances the early leadership established by AOL in the video search engine arena, beginning with the purchase of Seattle-based Singingfish in November 2003, and continuing with the launch of AOL Video Search in June 2005.
According to Jonathan F. Miller, Chairman and CEO of America Online, Inc., ''Consumers across the web have eagerly anticipated a video search engine that offers relevant, up-to-the-minute, premium video results. The addition of Truveo's video search technology, video assets, and experienced talent complements the overall video experience on AOL and takes it to new heights. Truveo is a hidden gem in the video marketplace, offering AOL members and users of AOL.com a vast, new array of tools and an extensive collection of updated, hard-to-find video assets. The Truveo acquisition takes AOL even farther down the path of being the premier destination on the internet for video and search.''
Dr. Tim Tuttle, CEO and co-founder of Truveo, Inc. added, ''The next few years will see a dramatic increase in the amount of video available on the web. Truveo has spent the past two years assembling a world-class team and developing powerful technology uniquely capable of finding and indexing this vast amount of web video. We are excited to join AOL in building a comprehensive, robust, and unparalleled consumer video experience. We will bring together the best free portal on the web with the best video search engine on the web.''
Truveo's corporate headquarters will remain in California. Truveo will be integrated with AOL's existing Video and Search teams, led by Kevin Conroy, Executive Vice President, Media Networks; and Jim Riesenbach, Senior Vice President, AOL Search.
To learn more about Truveo, please visit: www.truveo.com .
.
