Search Engine News Blog Headline

22 January 2004

LookSmart Loses CEO, Closes Australian Operations

LookSmart has announced the resignation of their CEO, the axing of half their global staff and the forthcoming closure of their Australian offices in what seems to be a triple death blow to the troubled search firm.

Former LookSmart Chief Executive Jason Kellerman has stepped down after only two years in the job. LookSmart Australia CEO Damian Smith has been asked by the LookSmart Ltd Board to fill Kellerman's shoes until a permanent replacement can be found.

Since losing its lucrative distribution contract with Microsoft last year, LookSmart, founded in Melbourne nine years ago, has been forced to wind down its global business, including the closure of their British office and the selling of its Australian assets to Sensis, a wholly owned subsidiary of telecommunications giant Telstra.

Sensis operates both the White Pages and Yellow Pages directories in Australia, as well as online services such as CitySearch and Whereis. It is rumored that Sensis paid less than AUD 3 million for the intellectual property behind LookSmart's Australian search technology.

The search firm will also be slashing their global staff numbers from 429 to less than 200 by the end of this quarter and will close offices in Melbourne and Sydney in June. The company will continue to have a presence in the U.S., managed from their San Francisco headquarters.

LookSmart shares closed more than 0.05 lower yesterday, following the announcement.

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