LookSmart buys search technology

LookSmart says it has agreed to buy search technology provider WiseNut for about $9.25 million in stock. The directory company, based in San Francisco, plans to bolster its search service by folding in WiseNut's technology over the next few quarters. While LookSmart's directory focuses on editorial results and paid listings, WiseNut's technology mines the Web for relevant results based on their link popularity and importance in Web communities.

"LookSmart will be able to offer our portal and ISP partners a full service solution that includes a scalable billion-document index infrastructure, next-generation search relevance and strong listings revenue," LookSmart CEO Evan Thornley said in a statement. Under financial terms, LookSmart will issue about 4.1 million common shares for the outstanding shares of privately held WiseNut.