About AltaVista | A Classic Web Browser Showcase.

Previous - Ain’t it Cool News

About

AltaVista was a web search engine launched in December 1995 by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). It was one of the earliest search engines on the internet and became notable for its fast and comprehensive search capabilities. AltaVista utilized DEC’s Alpha processors and an advanced multi-threaded crawler called “Scooter,” which allowed it to index a large number of web pages more quickly than other search engines of the time.

The search engine also introduced several innovations, such as natural language queries, advanced search options, and multimedia search capabilities. AltaVista quickly gained popularity due to its speed, relevance of search results, and ease of use, making it a leading search tool in the early years of the web. By the late 1990s, it was one of the most visited websites globally.

However, the rise of competing search engines, particularly Google, led to AltaVista’s decline. Despite efforts to revitalize the platform, including redesigns and a shift toward being a web portal, AltaVista was unable to maintain its early success. In 2003, AltaVista was acquired by Overture Services, which was subsequently purchased by Yahoo! that same year.

AltaVista continued to operate under Yahoo!’s management for several more years but lost most of its market share as Google’s dominance grew. In 2013, Yahoo! officially shut down AltaVista, marking the end of one of the internet’s pioneering search engines. I