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.''