The Cal Athletic Department announced a partnership with California based search engine LookSmart to develop a branded search engine for the Cal Athletics department that will support the university’s athletic programs. This partnership will also provide search services for students and alumni.
The search engine, called CalBears Search, will be offering search results powered by LookSmart, which boasts an index of 1.2 billion URLs. CalBears Search will also feature free access to LookSmart’s full text article database.
“Cal becomes the first major university with its own branded search engine,” said Steve Gladstone, director of athletics. “Students, alumni and Bear Backers will perform their web searches here, knowing the ad revenue that is generated will directly support our commitment to excellence and rise to national prominence.”
Search results on CalBears Search will contain paid listings provided by LookSmart. When a paid listing is clicked, a portion of the revenue will go the Cal athletic department. Cal plans on promoting their new engine through radio and print, as well as an interactive marketing campaign.
Solomon Fulp, director of corporate partnerships for Cal Athletics, said the university selected LookSmart as its partner based on their flexibility, “LookSmart demonstrated the ability to develop a world-class, branded web search property that becomes a valuable asset both for the athletics department and the university.”
Damian Smith, CEO of LookSmart, said the relationship would give advertisers a new source of high quality search traffic at a reasonable price. “UC Berkeley, its students, staff and alumni have been responsible for critical advances in Internet technology and are among the most knowledgeable and influential web users. We’re honored to partner with Cal Athletics for this groundbreaking program.”
Murdok | Breaking eBusiness News
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