International Business / The Pacific

Yahoo, Ziff-Davis in Joint European Venture: Yahoo Inc. and computer magazine publisher Ziff-Davis International Media Group announced a joint venture to bring Yahoo’s popular guide to the Internet’s sprawling World Wide Web to Europe. Yahoo Europe will offer customized versions of the guide in Britain, Germany and France this year and plans to launch local guides in other European markets in 1997, the companies said. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo offers a searchable catalog of the Web, the graphically oriented region of the Internet, with links that can take users to Web sites listed in the directory. About 10% of Yahoo users in 1995 were in Europe, Yahoo said. Ziff-Davis is owned by Softbank Corp., which has its headquarters in Tokyo. Yahoo shares lost $1.50 to close at $27.50 on Wednesday on Nasdaq.