I Agree and Disagree At The Same Time...
Without question, the day of the search engine as purely
search engine has hit twilight. (Though, I should point
out that SEEK's server product search engine sales have
surged from 6% to 12% of overall earnings... and are now
up and running on a variety of highly prestigious corporate
intra, extra, and internets.) And you are right to point
out the bland, me-too-ism of channelized search.
But, here's where our opinions divide. I think the
search egines/portals-in-the-making are just beginning: XCIT
and SEEK and maybe LCOS as well. These are by any measure
prime properties. (BTW, I just saw a MasterCard/XCIT
commercial on Seinfeld.) And as a bit on CNET about
portals this morning pointed out, newbies, researchers,
and students will still want a VERY STRONG search engine
at the heart of their portal... to help them navigate
and make sense of the Web.
What we will now see--and this is the safest prediction
of 1998--are major media companies and brand names starting
to buy chunks of this existing real estate or entering
into major relationships. (I've heard others argue that,
well, anybody can do what a Yahoo!, much less a SEEK or
LCOS, has done: low barriers to market entry, etc. And,
yet the path is littered with abortive attempts... like
Time Warner's Pathfinder that has never found a compelling
voice or large audience... or AT&T's (I think it was
called) BusinessNet offering.)
Without question, we are in a (pardon the pun)
searching mode: Search Engines are trying to find their
straightest path to portal status. And right now the
sector is rife with me-too-ism. But, it is for me,
at least, instructive to note that at various points
in the development of other MASS MEDIA, like TV networks,
me-too-ism was rampant as well.
We are in the 4th inning of a very good game.
JMHO...
Best Regards,
c m |
