CPQ/AV- a year or so ago today...7/28/98
Compaq disputed published reports Tuesday that it
purchased the altavista.com domain name for more than
$3 million.
Citing unnamed sources, a San Francisco Chronicle
article reported Tuesday that the computer company
had purchased rights to the Web address in one of the
largest domain transactions in the Web's history.
But Compaq(company profile) said its talks with
Campbell, Calif.-based AltaVista Technology, the
domain name's current licensee, are not yet concluded.
According to a spokesman for AltaVista Technology,
company president Jack Marshall did say Tuesday he
had signed an agreement with the computer company,
but could not discuss details.
"We're talking with them, but nothing has been settled,"
said Compaq spokesman Don Bradley. "Contract
negotiations are underway." Bradley said the company
could not comment on proposed terms for the
domain-name buyout.
Compaq inherited the 2-year-old AltaVista search site
when it bought Digital Equipment earlier this year. Once
one of the leading search-engine brands online, the site
has lost ground to competitors such as Yahoo and
Excite as they have added content, services, and Web
partners.
The company has indicated it has ambitions to be a
leader in the portal races, however. A portal site is
designed as a stepping-off point for the rest of the Net,
aggregating large amounts of Web content and user
services such as free e-mail.
Compaq has begun to bolster the search site with
content "zones" and portal-style services.
But analysts have said the company is fighting an uphill
battle, not least because the site still lacks its own easily
recognizable domain name.
AltaVista Technology was the original owner of the
altavista.com domain, but sold it to Digital Equipment in
1996. Digital licensed the domain back to AltaVista
Technology in 1996, according to AltaVista
Technology owner Jack Marshall, but asked for it back
that same year. The two companies have been fighting
over the domain name in court ever since. The
altavista.com site -- which offers domain-name
registration, Web hosting, and other online services --
receives roughly 500,000 hits per day, Marshall said
last month. Most of these visitors are looking for the
Compaq-owned search service, which still uses the
www.altavista.digital.com Web address. |
