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Technology Stocks : GoTo.com, promising Internet search engine -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Liren Chen who wrote (456)	7/24/1999 7:13:00 PM
From: Mr. Aloha	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 977

AltaVista screwed up from the beginning. First, they weren't going to show a difference between paid listings and non-paid listings... Then you needed to pay $.25 to start. Then you needed to spend too much time thinking about your placement, bidding, lock-in period etc... The whole process was flawed. GoTo has the right idea but they have some problems too. I used GoTo. I enjoyed the extra visitors but it didn't make sense to keep paying them money when the net result was weak. I tried difference web sites and products - same results. How many people want to pay $50 per month for something that most won't notice the difference with? I stopped using GoTo and it had NO effect on the business. I might be a freak case, but I doubt it. For some businesses it may makes perfect sense. Obviously casino's don't mind paying stupid prices. That shows how much they make per customer.... :-) GoTo will continue to do well because the business model works. I don't think they're reach the goals that some have posted here. You'd see a lot of other BIG NAMES appear within a month or two to participate in the EXACT same manner. Which brings up the point about their recent "patent pending" notice on the second pages of the web sites. hmmmmm.......

To: Liren Chen who wrote (456)	7/24/1999 7:18:00 PM
From: Mike Fredericks	Respond to of 977

AltaVista ends paid search practice, GOTO will too! GOTO's business model doesn't work! I have to disagree with you. The two have very little to do with each other. Altavista always claimed to be an objective search engine. Then they went ahead and auctioned only the top two slots for only certain search terms. They caught alot of flak because they were no longer objective, and they didn't use the Goto method of auctioning off all search terms and as many people can bid on each as want to. The coolest thing about goto is that little guys can advertise too... go to GoTo and search for "Seraphim Classics". I'll be in the top 2. No way could I advertise on Altavista. Additionally, GoTo used this business model from the beginning and people know what they're getting, and the user satisfaction reports all show that GoTo is well-liked by people who use it. Enough people are using it that the bids for some search terms ("Casino" for example) keep running up - Casino bids have doubled in the last 2 months. There is actually good news in the Altavista model - with Altavista gone only GoTo has a pay-for-ranking model right now. Being one of a kind has its advantages... -Mike