Overture Services Inc. on Monday announced that it will launch its successful paid placement search service in Australia by the end of this year. The paid search market in Australia is projected to
grow at an annual compounded rate of 86 percent to approximately A$63.8 million (or approximately U.S. $41 million) by 2005, according to a 2002 Jupiter Research report. The company said that it has
opened an office in Sydney and appointed a managing director to build and lead its Australian business. Overture Australia will join the company's market-leading operations in the United Kingdom,
Germany, France, Italy, Japan and South Korea. Additionally, the company said that its previously announced plans to launch in Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland and Scandinavia by the end
of the year remain on track.