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

To: sandintoes who wrote (24988)	2/13/2001 12:44:34 AM
From: KLP	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 28311

Good article !!! Some more thoughts on portals.... Have any of the portal companies, assuming they are working with the wireless phones and PDA companies, EVER asked the ultimate consumer what THEY would like...? Do any of these folks ACTUALLY USE the portals??? Sometimes, the techs forget that not everyone in the US and the world even uses computers, let alone the handhelds. Some of these same folks don't know about the old wash tub system of washing clothes....they only know the superduper deluxe washing machine. It is handy to remember that after the industrial revolution and then WWII, the average person had means to buy convenience products that had FINALLY become available to the "masses." AND THEY DID BUY! The article said: However, the people running those sites quickly learned that little money could be made through simple search engines, since advertisers were not willing to pay much to display banner ads on sites that surfers quickly breezed past. WHOEVER WROTE THAT NEVER KNEW ABOUT BERMA SHAVE ADS!!!!!!! The point is that advertisers shouldn't have to pay much. When there many outlets on which the advertising can be seen, the cost could/should come down. Everyone will WIN! IMO, people will always stop and look at ad if they are looking to compare products and services. It's human nature. If they aren't in the market that instant, they won't bother, but will look when they are in the market. Of course, advertising before the need is identified, makes it easier to grab the customer when their need is there. I think the key is to make a place attractive enough to want to stay at a site, as it has everything you would want including a descrete "pathway to ads" or towns of merchants, like Hypermart was to be, and hopefully, will be. Agreed: >>>>> that four fundamental factors determine a portal's success: features; presentation of the features; depth of content; and incentives -- particularly monetary. <<<<<<< Agreed: Bartels explained to NewsFactor that Yahoo! has been successful because it hews to the above fundamentals. It offers many features with a large degree of functionality; the simple interface is extremely user-friendly; and the content is so broad and varied that users have little need to go elsewhere. Agreed: Bartels added that financial incentives, such as the monthly IWon.com million-dollar sweepstakes, have played a huge role in Yahoo's leapfrogging over also-rans like GO.com. The article said this: the advertising well is drying up and portals will need to establish new sources of revenue. Do we consumers agree??? Do we NO longer want/need products and services?? Doubt it. We just need these items to be easily found for comparison.