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Technology Stocks : InfoSpace (INSP): Where GNET went! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: playavermont who wrote (16504)	1/28/2000 1:34:00 PM
From: V.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 28311

Hi playavermont, <<V, what are you saying?>> Oh my! I don't get opportunities like this too often! hehehe Since you asked... ;) There's really no covert meaning to my post at all - it was just an FYI to the thread. :) It's very straightforward, actually, but I'll dissect it for you if that helps. <gg> Ok, here we go. First of all, in the most general sense, Go.com is a competitor of Go2Net, and therefore, it is wise for the thread to be privvy to any changes in their strategy don't you think? :) Now, the article stated that Go.com "will no longer try to compete with America Online Inc., Yahoo! Inc. and other all-purpose "portal" sites on the World Wide Web...". 'Other' surely meaning Go2Net as one of the first tier portals on the web (see branding comment below). The article also stated that, "The new strategy will play down go.com's current role as a catch-all Internet portal, or site where people usually start their Internet viewing". This comment could have significance for Go2Net's market share in terms of the Go2Net Personal home page, for example, and I'm viewing it in that positive spin. go2net.com Additionally, from the article: "Wadsworth said search and directory services would still play a large part in the new strategy" so we again have affirmation of the importance of cutting edge search capabilities as part of the portal concept which has already been addressed and recently augmented by Go2Net via Metacrawler, Dogpile, 100Hot, and the recent Google affiliation. Accepting the premise that search & directory is of the utmost importance for any portal, then Go2Net is well positioned relative to the competition. My comment regarding the analyst's use of the term, "vertical" was two-fold. First, to the best of my knowledge, it was Russ who coined the terminology 'vertical market strategy' or at the very least, he is the one who has made those words synonymous with Go2Net. That Ms Lin would use the word, "vertical" in her analysis of Go.com and 'other' portal sites is not acknowledging this nor the fact that it's been employed with great success (read "profits") for some time by Go2Net - one of the 'other' portals <g>. It's not some novel restructuring approach... Note further from the article that, "go.com chairman Steve Bornstein told employees that go.com would transform itself into a focused site primarily dealing with entertainment, recreation, leisure and lifestyle, Wadsworth said". This is interesting since go.com launched just over a year ago and yet has already felt the need to "transform" itself by narrowing its scope as described by Bornstein. Russ has long acknowledged that Go2Net's intention is not to be all things to all people; however, the concentration on building specific areas of operation (finance, search & directory, e-commerce, multi-player games) is still relatively broad in scope particularly when juxtaposed with Go.com's comments on honing in on the entertainment/leisure eyeballs, IMO. Note this comment by analyst Lin regarding Go.com, "They have some very strong vertical sites like ESPN and Disney.com that have struggled under a mediocre portal umbrella. This should give them a chance to shine." That Go2Net is profitable overall in light of being selectively focused on a more diverse platform than what Go.com, for example, feels is doable at this juncture is impressive. Through Russ' vertical market strategy, there appears to be no need for Go2Net to "transform" or refocus to ensure success given that the Go2Net portal umbrella could hardly be categorized as "mediocre" nor could its components (SI, Hypermart, Playsite, Metacrawler/Dogpile, HaggleOnline, etc.) be viewed as "struggling". There has been one focus with Go2Net, and the company has kept its eye on the ball. They are moving forward with the same plan they've always had even though the issues of branding/marketing have not played a significant role in the company's success to date. Even so, I recall that Russ recently reiterated in one of the conference calls that there will be more attention placed on branding the company in the near future and one can only assume that this will augment the original plan (as opposed to 'tranforming' it). :) So, playavermont, these are the associations that I made while reading the article. Now aren't you glad that you asked me to clarify? ;)