ighct4ctuUork Limed July 1, 2013 AltaVista. What's That? By NICK BILTON There's an alternate universe where someone would ask you a question you don't know the answer to and you would respond, "I don't know, why don't you AltaVista it?" Instead, in the real world, you reply, "Why don't you Google it?" United States altavista Web Images Video Local Shopping News Moro Googlel google google search Search -In 11 AltaVista, once the most advanced and comprehensive search engine on the Web, is just days away from its last breath. Yes, like you, I thought AltaVista had been extinguished years ago, but apparently not. Last week, Jay Rossiter, executive vice president of platforms at Yahoo, which owns AltaVista, said that the search engine would be closed on July 8. Anyone who still uses AltaVista — I'm not sure who that is — should instead go to Yahoo Search, Mr. Rossiter said. Readers who are 18 years old and younger will probably ask, "What's an AltaVista?" In short, it was one of the first and most successful search engines. It was founded in 1995 by Digital Equipment Corporation. Since then, AltaVista has been through a number of confusing acquisitions. Digital Equipment Corporation was acquired by Compaq in 1998, which merged with Hewlett- Packard in May 2002. AltaVista itself was purchased in 2003 by Overture Services, then the leading seller of online search advertising. Overture, in turn, was purchased by Yahoo, once also a leader in search, in 2003. Page I loft EFTA01143219