Search-related advertising from Overture Services accounted for nearly one-fifth of Yahoo's revenue for the first quarter of 2003, the Internet company revealed in regulatory filings Thursday.

For the quarter ended March 31, revenue derived from search-related advertising through Overture accounted for $53.8 million, or 19%, of the Sunnyvale, Calif., Internet company's total revenue. During the same period last year, revenue from Overture's services accounted for $23.1 million, or 12%, of Yahoo's total revenue, according to a financial report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The disclosure underscores the boon search-related advertising can represent for Net companies, which have been looking high and low for ways to generate revenue since the dot-com decline.

Although Yahoo has been rolling out a variety of new paid services, such as Web hosting, personals services and premium e-mail offerings, paid-for-placement search listings continue to be a top revenue generator.

Overture, which has deals with Yahoo, AOL, Europe, Microsoft's MSN and other large Internet players, has also been reaping the benefit of online search partnerships, allowing it to report a 57% growth in revenue for the first-quarter of this year over the same period last year. Overture is in Pasadena, Calif.

Given its success, the commercial search service provider has been working to extend its offerings through the acquisition earlier this year of Fast Search & Transfer ASA's Web search unit. The company has also announced its intention to acquire veteran search engine AltaVista.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.