Every time a visitor to bCentral, Earthlink, Compuserve, or Dogpile clicks on a sponsored keyword result, both the partner and GoTo get paid. That money comes from the advertiser bidding on the keyword. All portal deals are not created equal. Recently, as we know, the loss of confidence in the Internet sector from an investor standpoint has caused share prices to tank, and has led to a laser focus on profitability. Those whose business models weren't within spitting distance of break-even started looking around for ways to get paid for what they do.
Profits are no longer optional.
Some are comfortably nestled as subsidiaries of AOL or Microsoft. Netscape 's portal page is piloting an integration of the GoTo search results into its portal, as well. Some GoTo partners, by contrast, make no mention that GoTo rankings are determined by a keyword auction to advertisers. Jeeves is supposedly this awesome search tool for the average user. As GoTo's auction becomes available at an increasing number of major web search destinations, its peculiar approach to search relevancy is gaining more footing all the time.