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Technology Stocks : INFOSEEK (GO) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Eddie Kim who wrote (6270)	5/28/1998 9:12:00 PM
From: cm	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9343

Eddie, Ummmm... That's A Big Question... Initially, I invested in SEEK because it seemed to be vastly undervalued vis a vis the other search engine players. It was that simple for me. I didn't even do much research. SEEK is a vendor to our company. And my business is e-commerce and online advertising... so I knew SEEK from the standpoint of its capacities to match advertising to "profiled" site visitors. If you didn't get a copy of May's Wired article about one-to-one marketing, get it. The article pretty clearly states that because of SEEK's work with Aptex Software... it has a very strong ability to more effectively TARGET visitors based on preference profiles. This is HUGE benefit to advertisers... who remain the biggest source of revenue for the company. Since investing in SEEK before the end of last year, I think it's fair to say that I've done a lot of research into this company, its personnel, and its prospects. In less than one year since the new management team has taken its desks at SEEK, headed by former CNN Interactive executive Harry Motro, much progress has been made. In Motro, we have a very effective deal-maker and negotiator. He and his team managed to get the WBS chat community for a virtual song... thus instantly increasing SEEK's numbers of valuable eyeballs... and taking ownership of them, rather than merely renting. Further, Motro's saying "No" to Netscape and its $70 million upfront requirement is another sign of a smart negotiator: one always has to have the ability to walk away from the table if the deal is not right. Further, Motro and his team have secured a Memorandum of Understanding with the LEADING GERMAN TELECOM company and internet provider, Deutsche Telekom. This deal still needs some ink and details. But, assuming it all comes together, this is master stroke in SEEK's plan to become a dominant global player. It is global markets--some of which are just now getting any kind of effective telecom infrastructure--where SEEK can make tremendous strides. But, Motro is not our only advantage. I encourage you to investigate SEEK's Chairman and techno-wiz, Steve Kirsch. Kirsch is highly respected for his innovations in search engine technology. And, it is Kirsch who was the driving force behind SEEK securing a patent for distributed search technology in Q4 of last year. This patent was pooh-poohed by certain competitors. But, I think, at the end of the day, we will see the TRUE VALUE OF THIS PATENT... and other ideas that Mr. Kirsch is championing. The mantra now among all these search engines that see themselves as media companies or "portals" is that "search is a commodity." I think the lie will be put to this over time. Further, Kirsch's development team is responsible for creating SEEK's now award-winning (and not some lame award either) UltraSeek search engine server product. This product--or an earlier rev--was responsible for 12% of SEEK's overall revenues... which was a 100% increase in its contribution to the bottom line. In sum, we've got a STRONG DEALMAKER and EQUALLY STRONG TECHNOLOGIST at SEEK. Plus, at the risk of stating the obvious, SEEK's is one of the leading prime properties on the Web... the favorite of researchers and colleges... and as a result of its SPO a few months back has a high-profile with money managers of all stripes. And in the coming weeks, we will see new E-COMMERCE DEALS from SEEK; the revamping of its Personal Finance page to include message boards--a move that will drive even more traffic to their site and be "sticky": for we investors tend to linger longer in such places that more hit-and-run visitors; the finalization of the DT deal, which MAY include DT taking an equity position in SEEK--BTW, DT is doing an Internet Telephony pilot here in the States; and I THINK the acquisition of another Web community. That's why I'm invested here. I'm also invested--or will be again, shortly--in some other Web-related plays... but none that you mentioned. Of course, all of this is no doubt skewed by the fact that I am a SEEK long-holder. Best Regards And Good Luck With Your Choices, c m