Overture says bon jour

Overture Services, a provider of commercial listings for Web search, said Thursday that it opened its service to the French marketplace, furthering its expansion overseas. The Pasadena, Calif.-based company, which operates services in the United Kingdom and Germany, said that marketers can now bid for placement in search results to be displayed on a number of top French Web sites, including Internet service providers AOL France, Tiscali France, Deutsche Telekom subsidiary Club-Internet and Lycos France. Overture's partner sites reach about 40 percent of French Internet visitors, the company said. Overture's Japanese subsidiary, Overture K.K., signed a multiyear agreement with Infoseek Japan K.K., which will carry commercial listings from Overture when it launches in Japan early next year.