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To: Marconi who wrote (15146)	8/28/1998 8:31:00 PM
From: llamaphlegm	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

BWeek. INTERNET SHOPPING--ON THE SLY SURVEY AFTER SURVEY reveals that consumers jealously guard their online privacy. But so far, industry and government efforts to prevent merchants from exploiting the massive amounts of data they can collect on Web surfers and online buyers have moved slowly. Now, a San Jose (Calif.) startup aims to give privacy power back to the people. In October, Privada Inc. plans to release a product, called Commerce Incognito, that will allow anonymous E-commerce transactions. The software builds on a $25,000 piece of hardware, which Privada released in July, that allows Internet service providers to offer their customers anonymous E-mail. Privada's system plugs into an Internet service provider's network and uses a patent-pending method of separately encrypting transactions, billing, and personal data. That way, Internet merchants can be sure the product they're selling is paid for, and they can still track the anonymous shopper's buying and browsing behavior. But they can't track the buyer's identity without the buyer's permission, nor can they market that data to other companies. Merchants pay Privada $500 a year for software to receive transactions from customers. By Robert D. Hof EDITED BY HEATHER GREEN

To: Marconi who wrote (15146)	8/28/1998 8:35:00 PM
From: llamaphlegm	Respond to of 164684

What do you figure it is for amzn? Better than AOL? Better than YHOO? What do you figure it is for BKS and BGP? Aren't all those peons who have yet to log on, supposed to be the basis for amzn's never-ending growth? Good thing it has such a dominant brand name? LP Name That Internet Brand Portion of the population that recognized these companies INTERNET NON-INTERNET USERS USERS AMERICA ONLINE 60% 17% NETSCAPE 45 3 YAHOO! 44 2 MICROSOFT 43 12 EXCITE 11 0 ALTA VISTA 10 0 INFOSEEK 8 0 LYCOS 7 0 DATA: INTELLIQUEST FIRST-QUARTER WORLDWIDE INTERNET TRACKING SERVICES STUDY

To: Marconi who wrote (15146)	8/28/1998 8:39:00 PM
From: llamaphlegm	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

More from YHOO cover story in this week's Bus. Week. Fancy that YHOO has a "cool" shopping rating and a good shopping function. Huh, CDNOW mentioned. Huh, I guess amzn will not have the ecommerce industry to itself. What a wacky world. LP The Be-All and Do-All of the Net Forget directories. Yahoo! is a full-blown package of information and services. Here's how a sampling of services on Yahoo! stacks up against rivals, with ''rad'' as the highest rating, followed by ''cool,'' then ''so what,'' and finally ''lame.'' FINANCE A superdeep set of offerings, including quotes, graphs, analysts' ratings, and company information--all easy to find. The breadth of news from Reuters, S&P, and AP sets it apart, although Microsoft's Investor and Excite also are first-rate. Yahoo! Finance isn't for high-roller investors but is great for little guys. RATING: RAD REAL ESTATE A wide variety of tightly integrated information from real estate's RE/Max and online loan service E-Loan, as well as national classifieds on home sales and rentals. Although Excite offers easier-to-use graphics and Microsoft's HomeAdvisor is flashy, Yahoo! has nifty information on crime rates and quality of life. RATING: COOL HEALTH To put it nicely, Yahoo! has a lot of work to do. The service provides health news from Reuters and medical site listings, but Excite, Infoseek, and Lycos do a better job by offering news features, tips, and quizzes from iVillage and HomeArts. For great sites, check out Thrive, InteliHealth, and Mayo Health. RATING: LAME SEARCH Yahoo! pioneered the field, using categories as a way to help guide you through searches. Now, Excite and Lycos help people wade through data better. Their solution? Asking whether the results are hot or cold, and then looking up data that are closer to the target. Excite also suggests first and last names to narrow searches. RATING: COOL NEWS This is the place for news junkies. The vast selection of news sources--from AP to Hollywood Reporter--is awesome. Also offers a wide variety of topics, from technology to human interest. Still, it can be overwhelming--with news bits, short takes, and in-depth stories galore. Snap! and Excite don't give up a lot of ground, though. RATING: RAD PERSONALIZATION My Yahoo! is extensive. It lets you pick your favorite topics--from stocks to weather--by creating a site customized to your tastes. True, Excite goes one better by having your preferences travel with you throughout that site. My Yahoo!, though, is really worth using if you plan to spend much time on the site. RATING: COOL TRAVEL This smart setup offers hotel, car, and flight reservations. But the bookings automatically link to travel service Sabre, without giving alternatives such as bargain-finder Priceline. Infoseek and Lycos first link to Microsoft's Expedia and Preview Travel and connect to other sites. RATING: SO WHAT SHOPPING If you thought shopping malls were dead on the Web, think again. Yahoo! has one, and it's doing its darnedest to lock you into its choice of stores, including Gap and CDnow. Snap! has easy-to-use listings and search to help sort through a wider selection. Yahoo! is still hep, offering an electronic shopping assistant. RATING: COOL

To: Marconi who wrote (15146)	8/28/1998 8:42:00 PM
From: llamaphlegm	Respond to of 164684

You can be a dominant player as the tortoise not the hare? Madness. At least msft is a nicey-nice company that does not compete like a cutthroat pirate in fields where there's money to be made. LP HOW MICROSOFT PLANS TO OUT-YAHOO! YAHOO! Yahoo! Inc. may be the classic fleet-footed startup, but mighty Microsoft Corp. has achieved dominance by playing the tortoise, not the hare. Whether it's the Windows operating system or the Internet Explorer Web browser, both of which made real headway only in their third version, Microsoft has often succeeded more through persistence than through speed. Now, the software king is setting its sights on the Internet's newest strategic prize: the portal, a super Web site that has so many services and so much info that it's the first place you visit on the Net. Microsoft right now is recasting its fragmented Web presence into one catch-all portal, after a six-month effort code-named Start. The plan is to consolidate Microsoft's three separate consumer gateway sites into a single super Web site called MSN.COM and--after two mediocre tries--to finally turn the MSN brand into a cyberspace leader. About 2.5 million subscribers now use MSN for Internet access--far fewer than America Online Inc.'s 12.5 million. But by prominently featuring Microsoft's own popular Web sites, including Expedia travel and CarPoint auto sales, on the redesigned MSN.COM home page, the combination could be powerful, experts say. ''Maybe three times is the charm,'' concedes wary Yahoo Chief Operating Officer Jeffrey Mallet. HANDS ON. He should worry. For starters, Microsoft's new site will match many of the convenient features offered by Yahoo, AOL, and others, such as instant messaging and advanced search services. But Microsoft also will exploit advantages that rivals can't easily match. Consumers will be able to get to the portal by clicking either the Microsoft Network or Internet Explorer icons found on almost every Windows PC, so Microsoft will get the first shot at newbies. And the software giant plans to spend $100 million to spread the word. ''This is the focal point of our Internet strategy today,'' says Pete Higgins, group vice-president for Microsoft's Interactive Media Group. The project is so vital to Microsoft's future that Higgins, an 11-year Microsoft veteran, is handling it directly. His strategy: to do the same standout job of integrating Microsoft sites in MSN.COM as he did when he oversaw the stitching together of the company's spreadsheet, word processing, and database programs into the Office suite. Today, that package holds a 90% market share. Can Higgins hit another grand slam? A repeat of such high market share is unlikely given the runaway performance of Yahoo and AOL. But experts figure Microsoft can wangle its way into becoming a top-ranked portal. ''If they can work it out, they will be a real competitor,'' says analyst Kate Delhagen of Forrester Research Inc. ''And we think they'll figure it out.'' HUNGRY FOR ADS. Microsoft is hardly starting from scratch. Despite its missteps with MSN, some 30 million people visit Microsoft's consumer sites each month, just 10 million fewer than Yahoo. The Expedia site boasts 2.5 million regular users, who book $20 million a month in travel reservations, while CarPoint produces $250 million in monthly sales through auto dealerships. Lumped together, Microsoft's family of consumer sites ranked sixth in Media Metrix' July list of top Web properties. But Higgins' ultimate success will depend on whether or not he is able to turn that huge audience into profits. While Microsoft's Web revenues topped $410 million during the fiscal year ended in June, much of it came from lower-margin Internet access fees--not more profitable E-commerce and advertising income. Indeed, analysts peg Microsoft's Web losses last year at more than $300 million. The new portal strategy should help turn that around. Higgins expects it will more than double ad revenues. According to Jupiter Communications Co., Microsoft netted $20 million in Web ad revenues last year--one-third what Yahoo took in. ''Advertisers follow eyeballs,'' says Jupiter analyst Peter Storck. If so, the tortoise could be lacing up some track shoes. By Steve Hamm in Redmond, Wash.