Compaq revising the MilliCent technology; a good fit with Alta Vista.
Victor
----------------
Compaq Resurrects MilliCent Online Payments Model 11/12/98
Newsbytes, Thursday, November 12, 1998 at 01:55
(Published on Wednesday, November 11, 1998 at 22:55)
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1998 NOV 12 (NB) -- By Adam Creed,
Newsbytes. Compaq Computer Corp. [NYSE:CPQ] will trial a
new model for online advertising giving users the discretion to
receive small electronic payments as an incentive for viewing
adverts, or to pay to access advert-free content.
Compaq will explore the application of the MilliCent technology it
inherited from from Digital after the two companies merged.
MilliCent, which will now work in tandem with online advertising
rather than as a replacement, will be tested with Compaq's online
journal, The Rapidly Changing Face of Computing (RCFoC).
MilliCent has been available as an experimental electronic payments
system for several years, the last trials were conducted by Digital
mid-1998. The concept behind the system is to enable online content
providers to collect small payments below $5, or "micropayments"
for low cost services. A publisher could offer pay per view articles
on a Web site, for example.
Significantly, Compaq's focus for MilliCent is now as a tool for
advertisers, where initially it was conceived as a solution for small
content providers that could not attract advertising on the Internet.
"Advertisers will benefit from increased hits from users happy to
view ads in return for electronic cash," said Compaq, in a statement.
"Incentives such as free electronic cash are offered to encourage
users to visit an advertiser's sites. The advertiser's profile is
improved through increased user traffic."
Internet users happy to view advertising will be rewarded with
electronic cash they can use with MilliCent vendors elsewhere
online. Those who do not wish to see advertising can use their
electronic wallets to have it filtered out.
"The traditional concept of publishing and advertising isn't
working economically on the Internet," said Greg McCane, senior
manager, software engineering Australia, Compaq Computer
Australia. "There is no incentive for a user to look at an
advertiser's site. MilliCent may provide a more workable option. If
the user gains electronic money by visiting a site, and can then
spend the money at other sites, both the user and the advertiser
benefit."
Electronic cash schemes have been slow to get off the ground
online, with most people happy to use credit cards for purchases
and content providers giving visitors free information as a teaser
for paid services and to build the brand online.
First Virtual Holdings, which also had an electronic cash system,
folded in July of this year. Digicash filed for bankruptcy this
month, while CyberCash and IBM schemes are either in the early
stages of development or have not caught on widely yet.
Users can test MilliCent's new model by visiting the RCFoC Web
site at millicent.digital.com . |
