And the worry now is that AltaVista will be unable to exploit this technology because of CMGI's cash constraints. This has led some in the market to believe that CMGI would be willing to accept a dilution of its stake in AltaVista in return for a cash investment that would speed the group's path to profitability and the exploitation of its technology. One source said senior CMGI executives had told him recently that a strategic partner for AltaVista would be very welcome. CMGI has said that they are going to look at any opportunities that are out there for them among their businesses in order to get some cash. It is a good search engine and there are probably a lot of opportunities for it.
Former employees joke that it's cursed.
The firm has the distinction of having had IPO plans shelved on three occasions, each time by a different parent. April 1995 - AltaVista is conceived by Digital Equipment Corp. engineers. 1997 - Digital begins to think about an IPO, but plans are aborted. 1998 - Compaq buys Digital. The rumor is that Digital's Web-averse management literally gave AltaVista away, valuing it at nothing.