The search engine is based on a scalable network plan developed in 1994 by scientists at UC Berkeley, under a grant from the Department of Defense. The application is called NOW ("network of workstations") clustering, and entails the use of a cluster of inexpensive PCs to manage blocks of work. As workload increases, a system's capacity may be increased indefinitely by adding more workstations. Inktomi says its cluster technology allows for cost-efficient growth without compromising performance. It provides access to more than 110 million documents, and is the most frequently updated index available on the web. Much of the content is updated daily (some is refreshed hourly) and the entire index is updated every three weeks. Those in the know say the Inktomi search engine is the fastest search tool available, and provides the most relevant results to search queries - a feat accomplished through a combination of flexible query options and sophisticated ranking specifications. As the World Wide Web grows, Inktomi continues to deliver only the most reliable, accurate search results.

The company recently introduced its second product, the Inktomi Traffic Server, a scalable server application for the Internet and individual Intranets. The carrier-class network cache application makes large-scale network infrastructures faster and more cost-efficient by eliminating redundant data traffic. This ultimately allows ISP's and large corporate Intranets to serve more users and greater data volume over existing bandwidth infrastructures. Traffic Server devotees include AOL and Intel Corp.

Instead of marketing its search engine, Inktomi licenses the technology to sites that want to offer a search option. As a result, the young company avoids the hassle (and cost) of developing its own Internet portal service, and still benefits from the growing advertising revenues of the hottest sites on the Web. In fact, Inktomi has an established history of collaboration with other members of the industry, a strategy that has served it well. One company's stamp of approval usually prompts its competitors to come knocking.

In May 1998, Snap! announced an agreement to integrate its web directory with Inktomi's search engine, making it the first web search service to integrate a human-edited directory with the most powerful Internet search tool available. Less than two weeks later, Yahoo! decided to drop Alta Vista and add Inktomi's search engine beneath its own to answer user queries that do not match up with anything on Yahoo!'s human-generated directory. (In fairness to Alta Vista, Yahoo! may have dropped its partnership because it sensed competition: Alta Vista's site was slowly becoming a portal in its own right, with the addition of features like free e-mail and ABC's news service.)

Who wants a piece?

Not content to rest on its laurels, Inktomi has recently cut a slew of new deals. Its search engine has been picked up by Idealab's search service, www.GoTo.com, and Nippon Telephone and Telegraph's portal site, (called Goo). Other new customers include About.com, BESTSEARCH.com, Keen.com, and TechTarget.com in the United States; ISION and SwissOnline in Europe; OpenBase and Sterling Software in Asia; and Globo.com in Latin America. The Inktomi Search Engine also went live on several sites including LookSmart, MyTurn.com, Webforia, Germany's Mobilcom, Spain's Telefonica, and Freeserve in the United Kingdom. The biggest deal came in June 2000, when, in a bid to extend the range of its search capabilities to include customizable search and navigation software for corporate intranet and extranet sites, the company shelled out $344.7 million to acquire Ultraseek Corp., a subsidiary of Go.com, Walt Disney's Internet business. The acquisition is expected to be finalized in September 2000, after which Ultraseek will operate under the Inktomi name.