Walt Disney Co.'s Go.com Web portal is ready to ask for a second chance from Internet users.
After more than eight months of retooling, Disney Internet Group rolled out a revamped version of the Go portal. Disney launched Go.com (www.go.com) in early 1999 as a general-interest portal meant to compete with Yahoo! Inc. and others. But from the beginning, it was apparent that the effort was too far behind, and not very different from, the competition.
Disney Plans More Limited Focus for Go.com, Shift to Entertainment (Jan. 28)
So early this year, the company said it would narrow the focus of Go.com to recreation, leisure and entertainment -- areas in which Disney felt it could excel because they are the company's main businesses. Disney Internet Group Chairman Executive Steve Bornstein says the new approach is no longer a "me too" operation that mimics Yahoo in both style and substance.
The new version is marked by several changes. The search function has been made prominent, since that's what most consumers use Go for. The long laundry list of subject areas that dominates most portals -- from health to business to education -- has been pared down to lifestyle-oriented topics. Hoping to become a planning tool for consumers puzzling over their spare time, the page directs users to what's on TV or at the movies that day.
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WSJ,Jim |
