The story
Founded by Ivo Lukačovič in 1996.1
Seznam was founded in 1996 by Ivo Lukačovič in Prague as the first Czech internet directory and search engine. Lukačovič started the company with 50,000 Czech koruna from his own savings. In 1998, Seznam launched its email service using the @seznam.cz domain and gradually expanded into other online services, including news, weather, dictionaries, maps, and community features.
In 2000, Swedish internet company Spray International invested in Seznam, helping the company transition into a joint-stock company. Following the collapse of the dot-com bubble, plans for a possible public offering were abandoned. Lukačovič later regained a controlling position in the company and has remained its main shareholder.
In the early 2000s, Seznam used a full-text search technology developed by the Czech company Jyxo. In 2005, the company introduced its own search technology and acquired ATC, the operator of Email.cz. The acquisition expanded Seznam's email services, which were later integrated with its existing Seznam.cz email platform.
In 2006, Seznam entered a new phase of development as Ivo Lukačovič stepped back from day-to-day management and Pavel Zima became CEO. The company continued expanding its services, including through the acquisition of users of the Czech On Line portal's @post.cz email service. In this period, Seznam was the main competitor to Google in the Czech search market.
In 2007, Seznam acquired a 50% stake in Global Inspiration, the company operating the Czech online video platform Stream.cz, expanding its services into online video and original content. In 2011, Seznam acquired the remaining shares and became the sole owner of Stream.cz's operator.
Google gradually became the dominant search engine in the Czech Republic during the early 2010s. Instead of competing only in search, Seznam increasingly focused on building a wider digital ecosystem of Czech-language services.
Since 2016, Seznam has expanded its media activities through Seznam Zprávy, an online news outlet, and Televize Seznam, launched in 2018. Its mapping service Mapy.com (originally Mapy.cz) became one of its most important products, offering navigation, hiking, cycling, and outdoor mapping features. Seznam also operates specialised services such as Sreality.cz, Sauto.cz, Zboží.cz, and Firmy.cz, which support its broader advertising and marketplace ecosystem.
In 2022, Seznam adopted the IndexNow protocol to allow websites to notify search engines about content changes more efficiently.
From Wikipedia’s article on Seznam.cz, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5