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To: James Thompson who wrote (12254)	8/2/1999 10:38:00 AM
From: Jenne	Respond to of 19700

AltaVista, Northern Light to Launch Multimillion-Dollar TV Ad Campaigns By GARY MCWILLIAMS Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL The two biggest Internet-search companies are taking their rivalry to the airwaves this fall, launching multimillion-dollar advertising campaigns to win attention outside the Internet. AltaVista Co. and Northern Light Technology LLC, each of which claims to have the largest storehouses of Internet information, are joining a stampede by Internet firms to broadcast and print advertising. "It's new media feeding old media," says Bob Igiel, executive vice president at the Media Edge, Young & Rubicam's media-buying arm. "There are so many Web sites that Internet companies are finding it necessary to use traditional media to make people aware of their product," he says. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Customer Search Two search engines set to launch ad campaigns: AltaVista Northern Light Technology Web address www.altavista.com www.nlsearch.com Ad budget $50 million to $100 million $12 million to $24 million Agency Weiden & Kennedy, Portland, Ore. Mullen Advertising Inc., Wenham, Mass. Launch November September -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Northern Light Technology will market itself as "the best-kept secret on the Internet" in a $12 million to $24 million cable-TV, radio and print campaign to pull customers away from better-known competitors such as AltaVista, Yahoo! Inc. and Lycos Inc. Chief Executive C. David Seuss says Northern Light's index of 160 million Web pages is the largest compilation on the Internet. Yet research shows just one in 500 people who use the Internet have ever heard of the site. "It's frustrating," Mr. Seuss says. In April, the closely held firm raised $35 million in venture capital from Reuters Group PLC, Hewlett-Packard Co. and Times Mirror Co. to fund the advertising campaign. It recently hired Mullen Advertising to develop and place ads. Rival AltaVista regularly ranks among the 10 most-frequently visited sites on the Internet and also claims the biggest store of online data. It is preparing a $50 million to $100 million ad blitz to draw attention to its claim to be the destination for the "Web savvy." AltaVista's target audience: "people who spend more time on the Web, are comfortable with the Web, and are looking on it as a mechanism to help in their daily lives," says Charles Rashall, vice president of sales and marketing. AltaVista, part of Compaq Computer Corp., hired Weiden & Kennedy to manage its global advertising push, which it expects to launch in major media markets in November. The thrust of the campaign, Mr. Rashall says, will say, "We're more than the Internet. We're going to connect with people in their daily lives." Other Internet companies already have rushed to traditional media outlets. In recent months, CNET Inc., CyberCash Inc., Virtual Vineyards (virtualvineyard.com) and online auction house boxLot Co. (boxLot.com) have announced major print and broadcast campaigns.