CY CEO Answers Some Questions About AltaVista Competition:
Robert Peladeau wrote:
Hello Paul
As you probably know many are worried about AltaVista now setting shop in Canada with free internet.I would like to posts answers to 2 questions:
What are CY's advantages over Alta Vista: A)for advertisers ?B)users ?
********
Hi Robert!
Great to hear from you again!
Here is my response to the AltaVista launch in Canada:
Ever since Cybersurf launched 3web in Toronto on November 1, 1999, other companies have rushed to market to get a piece of the action. First there was HomeFreeWeb – which really isn't a legitimate competitor (refer to my previous comparison of 3web and HomeFreeWeb). Now AltaVista has decided to try to take us on.
Cybersurf has known about AltaVista even before they officially announced their intent to offer free Internet access in the US. We were aware of 1stUp's capabilities before they were bought up by AltaVista and repackaged under AltaVista's banner. Their sudden interest in the Canadian market has been expected for a while now.
But we sure did surprise them with our November 1st launch! They were
planning to launch in Q1 2000 and later bumped that up to December 15th (never in November).
They have no advertising and no presence in Toronto – or any of their other access points for that matter! Now they're trying to catch up to us!
Although AltaVista is a serious competitor because they have a more viable cost model – in contrast to HomeFreeWeb – they are still a lot more similar to HomeFreeWeb than they are different. In fact, a lot of my previous comments about HomeFreeWeb apply to AltaVista as well!
Advertising Capabilities:
- 3web has dynamic ads with full motion and sound, as well as broadcast-quality capabilities.
AltaVista is restricted to banner ads, with the option of animated GIFs. By their very nature, animated GIFs are less compelling and much larger in size than an equivalent 3web dynamic ad.
- AltaVista's advertising can be blocked trivially by using any freely available Internet ad blocking program such as JunkBuster (check out "http://216.32.180.250/cgi-bin/linkrd?_lang=&lah=40cee336b538617a98a29d5ed420601e&lat=943154877&hm___action=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2ejunkbuster%2ecom" target="_blank">http://www.junkbuster.com</a> ). Programs
such as JunkBuster remove banner ads from web pages. Apparently AltaVista's desktop advertising is still web advertising in disguise! I'm sure that AltaVista's advertisers would not approve!
- The component that displays the advertising is actually Microsoft's Internet Explorer ActiveX control. This is like having two Internet browsers running on your desktop at the same time. This also means that not much effort was put into the development of the
advertisement component. It's just a small web page.
- AltaVista has been able to get 800,000 users in the US. 3web has over 170,000 users in two cities! We expect another 500,000 from Toronto alone, and more major centers are on the horizon. This highlights the different marketing strategies and why 3web will be more important to advertisers.
- Advertisers want to target the major market centers. 3web specifically targets the big markets and captures them. 3web currently holds 35% of the ISP market in Alberta and is
now the biggest ISP in Alberta (and this from only two centers). 3web will capture at least 35% of the Toronto market.
- 3web has distribution partners that have an interest in getting 3web out to the public as fast as possible. Also note, that the CD distributions are paid for by the distributors, and not by Cybersurf. Cybersurf pays nothing!
- AltaVista's banner ads constantly hog my modem's bandwidth. Their ads are loaded dynamically, as they are needed, from Internet ad servers. That may save disk space, but disk space is cheap and plentiful. Bandwidth on my modem is not, and AltaVista's free Internet wants to use that bandwidth every 20-60 seconds to get another ad. The web is slow enough and doesn't need to be any slower! 3web, in contrast was designed to get the download out of the way at the start of your session, and was designed to minimize the impact on your web experience.
- AltaVista's news ticker and info pages on their MicroPortal do the same thing. Every few seconds, more data is transferred over the modem, getting stuff that I do not want and interfering with my browsing.
- AltaVista forces the users to interact with an ad about every 10-15 minutes. The resulting click is not the result of the advertising, it's the result of someone going through the motions to stay connected. The click-and-back routine gets easy very quickly.
I didn't even know what I clicked on after a while. What's the point in padding the response? It sounds like advertisers aren't getting full value for their money!
- AltaVista's ads cannot guarantee impressions. I have personally had their system give errors (bad server responses) while loading their ads. This resulted in no ads being shown. In fact, their entire console looked awful because they had web page errors all over the place. This demonstrates how difficult it is to deliver a quality service.
Privacy:
- AltaVista has a policy that your information (demographics and any other information that they may be able to gather) may be disclosed to third parties and advertisers! 3web insures your privacy. Our 3web users' privacy is very important to Cybersurf, and we will not provide personal information to any third parties, including advertisers.
- 1stUp reserves the right to insert promotional notices into your outgoing mail. 3web does not interfere or alter user mail. 3web's mail system is also POP/IMAP compliant, which gives users a choice in email client software (most of which are a lot more capable than
AltaVista's web mail system).
- AltaVista monitors the web surfing patterns of the user. I wonder if AltaVista's users are aware of just how much of their privacy is being abused?
Target Audience:
- AltaVista's service accepts no minors. Only users 18 years of age or older may use the AltaVista/1stUp service! That is definitely not a family service.
3web allows everyone in the family to have an account and an e-mail address, and provides advertising tailored to each family member's interests.
- The AltaVista free Internet sites are still geared to the American market.
3web automatically takes you directly to your local site, and emphasizes local information.
Software:
- ? 1stUp.com, and not AltaVista provide the service. Their software is third party and subject to the delays and additional expenses associated with outsourcing your programming. 3web does not have that problem because Cybersurf has the entire 3web development team in-house.
- AltaVista does not set up any email accounts for you. It requires a further online registration. 3web sets everything up for you.
- AltaVista requires Internet Explorer 4 or higher to be installed.
3web distributes a browser with the CD.
- AltaVista does not offer access to newsgroups. 3web does.
- The 1stUp system does not support ISDN. 3web does.
AltaVista Advantages:
- AltaVista has a portal already in place, largely taken from a NetCenter/MyYahoo template. AltaVista also has a "MicroPortal" which allows small news feeds to be displayed continuously on the system.
- AltaVista has a working NT installation. 3web will support Windows NT and Windows 2000 shortly.
- Larger coverage across Canada. Although AltaVista currently has an advantage with their Internet portal and more access points, these will be short-lived advantages. 3web's advantages, on the other hand, are huge. 3web's advertisements are more compelling for both the user and the advertiser. The 3web system is far easier to use and
understand for the first time user, and the 3web network is designed to minimize impact on your web exploration and advertisement download time. 3web's registration system is one-step, one-stop, and the 3web distribution system is unparalleled in getting access into the hands of those who don't have web access or don't know anything about
the Internet. Almost 50% of the families signing up to 3web have never had access to the Internet before and almost 60% of those who signed up did so because 3web was recommended to them by a friend!
Thanks Robert.
Take Care.
Paul Mercia
President, CEO
Cybersurf Corp.
300, West Tower 1144 29th Ave. NE
Calgary, Alberta |
