IP: AltaVista To Sell Listings On Search Site

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

Still smells to me . It should be clearly labeled ADVERTISEMENT. Bet it will not be djf



> Date: Sun, 18 Apr 1999 23:15:44 -0400
> To: farber () central cis upenn edu (David Farber)
> From: Jean Armour Polly <mom () netmom com>
> Subject: AltaVista To Sell Listings On Search Site
>
> http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/wr/story.html?s=v/nm/19990418/wr/ internet_altavista_4.html
>
> Sunday April 18 12:17 AM ET
>
> AltaVista To Sell Listings On Search Site
>
> PALO ALTO, Calif. (Reuters) - AltaVista Co. said it will sell listings on its Internet search results pages so that 
> users who submit a query will see two ``paid placements'' along with the other computer-generated results.
>
> The company said Thursday the service was a way to maximize exposure of some Web sites and other online content 
> providers that might not get prominence in a regular search. It would also help Alta Vista, a unit of Compaq Computer 
> Corp. (NYSE:CPQ - news), maximize its own revenues. Alta Vista plans to sell these paid placements by auctioning off 
> certain keywords and offering the listing to the highest bidder. Bidding will begin at 25 cents per clickthrough -- or 
> for each time someone clicks on the listing to see more content.
>
> ``We expect it will not be an insignificant source of revenues,'' Alta Vista president Rod Schrock. ``But it won't be 
> as large as our advertising revenues.''
>
> But some critics said the new service would make it harder to distinguish between online content and online ads. 
> Almost as soon as it was announced, Alta Vista was put on the defensive over the propriety of selling Internet content.
>
> ``This is not doing things behind customers' backs. This is very clearly communicated upfront,'' said Shrock, who 
> stressed the paid listings would appear at the top of the page, separate from those generated in the computer search.
>
> ``There's nothing wrong with that. Nothing to be ashamed of.''