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Paid-search company Overture may have lost its deal to provide search technology for leading internet service provider Earthlink, but it has rebounded just fine, thank you. The company has agreed to provide search results for a bigger fish than Earthlink, namely the Microsoft Network. The way the deal will work: The top three search results from Overture will appear on MSN’s search-results page whenever a user embarks upon a search. Lest any ethical concerns arise, the Overture results will be labeled “sponsored sites.” Microsoft and Overture had an earlier deal that was not quite as extensive, in which Overture had a search window within the Internet Explorer browser.
NPR’s Gross swamped with KISS email
National Public Radio personality Terry Gross, who hosts “Fresh Air,” has been inundated with emails regarding an interview last week with a certain flamboyant, testosterone-addled rock star. As previously noted, she interviewed Gene Simmons, the lead singer of aging rock band KISS, early last week, and the exchange was so awkward that Simmons refused to grant permission for NPR to post the transcript of the talk on its web site. Since then, Gross has received an avalanche of emails about the interview. As of yesterday, she’d gotten about 3,000 electronic messages, most of them high-fiving her for standing up to Simmons’ aggressive, sexist banter. For example, Simmons’ first words were, “The notion is that if you’re going to welcome me with open arms you also have to welcome me with open legs.” Gross responded by calling Simmons obnoxious, and it was all downhill from there. NPR might not be posting the interview on its web site, but it is rebroadcasting the talk.
Airlines hanker for high-speed in-flight net access
The events of Sept. 11 and the recession have been hell on the airline industry, it’s true. The slump has also served to delay the advent of widespread high-speed internet access on planes. The three leading air carriers, American Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Airlines, dropped out of an agreement to back Connexion, Boeing’s in-air internet venture, last fall. But it turns out that in-flight internet access might not be such a pipe dream after all. A group of 17 airlines is still looking into Connexion, according to reports. Still, don’t expect in-air surfing to be widespread and affordable anytime soon. The going is slow because the two leading providers of the service, Boeing’s Connexion and Tenzing Communications, have both had to lay off significant numbers of employees.
‘Dot.us’ domains hitting market soon
Some show their patriotism with suction-cup car-window American flags, others with star-spangled undies. Soon there will be a definitive way to flaunt your United States affiliation on the internet: a domain name ending in “.us.” The dot.us domain names will open for registration to the general public starting April 24, with 29 registrars of domain names selling them. They differ from the seven new domains, such as .info and .name, which were introduced to relieve the crowded dot.com, dot.org and dot.net space. The .us domain is not new, and many other countries, such as Japan and the United Kingdom, let web sites use the national domain name affiliations. But in the U.S., .us had been limited to governments, schools and libraries. Even though it could be registered for free, the result was often a long and complicated web address, such as www.ci.austin.tx.us/library for the web site of the Austin, Texas public library.
IVillage.com snaps up Promotions.com
While the online population certainly isn't ready to pay for most online content, it is willing to give up some information if there's free stuff involved. That thinking has led women-oriented web portal iVillage to purchase Promotions.com for about $3.5 million in stock and $9.8 million in cash. IVillage will now have access to online contest resources: off-line direct marketing amalgamation, database management, prize endowment and legal management. The acquisition also includes Webstakes.com, a sweepstakes site that assembles consumer information for clients, and Promotions.com's iDialog survey technology, which asks tailored questions to participants during the registration process. Promotions.com has worked with General Mills, Kraft Foods, AOL Time Warner, Compaq and Bristol Meyers Squibb in the past, and it will continue to offer its advertising resources as a separate brand under iVillage.
February 13, 2002 © 2002 Media Life
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