Yahoo! Inc. is setting out to prove its recently acquired Overture Services division can deliver innovation as well as advertisements.
Inspired by Overture"s past work, Yahoo has formed a research lab that will focus on ways to improve online search, e-mail, instant messaging and other features offered by the Web portal. The lab represents new territory for Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo as it approaches its 10-year anniversary in April. The move also served as a reminder that Overture -- acquired by Yahoo in October for $1.8 billion -- offers other assets besides a highly profitable index that distributes text-based advertisements tied to the requests entered into online search engines.