Portal Power

Brandweek, Oct 2, 2000 by Hassan Fattah

Once considered information way stations, portals have evolved into one-stop shops, providing the visitor with a wide range of services and the advertiser a variety of opportunities.

Remember when search engines were a bunch of upstarts that gave bad answers to your queries? Just look at them now. Full-featured destinations, portals seem to offer everything but the kitchen sink--including, yes, search. Ironically, while "portal" Is defined as a gateway for moving beyond the confines of a space, online portals are all about keeping you Inside. But just look at your local shopping mall: People would rather go to a single location to get their everyday services than have to fish around for them. The power of portals, in fact, may be their confines.

The question for portals, then, is how to keep users in. Not surprisingly, portals are on a quest to make themselves Indispensible. They started with content, added free e-mail and soon began a constant rollout of features, from online calendars to Web-based storage to free dial-up ISP service and one-stop access to financial accounts. Most can deliver wireless Web access to their services via cell phone. A new category of vertical portals has also risen, attracting a particular demographic with specialty content of services.

The competition is fierce, as underscored by AltaVista's retreat from a portal into a newfangled search engine, and Go.com's new focus on leisure and entertainment. It's enough to drive an advertiser crazy.

IQ reviewed same of the largest portals and looked at some with unique business models. All offer similar features and services, but most differ in brand Image or in their audience demographic.

AOL

The Point: A rich portal built around a captive audience.

Vital Statistics: Publicly owned, founded in 1985 and based in Dulles, Va. Merger with Time Warner to become AOL Time Warner was still under regulatory review at press time.

Target Demo: Late adopters, non-techie users of all ages.

Traffic: More than 22.2 million subscribers as of May 2000; 62,545,000 visitors in July 2000.

Content: AOL is the country club of portals. To get the maximum use of its services, you have to subscribe to its $21.95 dial-up service. Those who do get a rich mixture of news, shopping and community in an easy-to-navigate, no-fuss interface. Content is organized into 19 channels for easy navigation. AOL has up-to-the-minute news from wire services and other news sources combined with information from its other properties, including Digital City local sites (also accessible through the Web), along with links to the most prominent online content providers. Content partners include CBS News, Hachette Filipacchi Magazines, Bloomberg, The New York Times and Business Week. If the merger with Time Warner is approved in October, you can expect those content offerings to grow even wider.

AOL members can exchange e-mail on the Internet without signing onto the proprietary service, through AOL Net-Mail. But it's the community features that offer the biggest opportunities--and eyeballs. AOL's ICQ, acquired in 1998, is the most popular service on the Net, with some 60 million users worldwide who spend three hours a day on the desktop chatting. Its Instant Messenger and Buddy Lists are a hot spot for experienced Internet users and newbies alike. AOL's mixture of connectivity and content offers a unique audience for advertisers and partnerships.

Look and Feel: Very usable interface that's easy to navigate. But AOL.com, AOL's Internet hub, leaves much to be desired, with a busy design that's not intuitive.

Advertising Options: Everything from banners, buttons and hot links to partnerships and jointly branded sections. As a proprietary network, AOL can offer a uniquely targeted audience and metrics to back it up.

Bottom Line: The company's traffic comes largely from its 22.2 million subs, who see the portal whenever they dial up. If you're after a less technical audience, this is a good starting point. And paying for placement or for partnerships here may make the most of your ad dollar.

MSN

The Point: A full-feature portal built around Microsoft's Net properties. Includes both a dial-up service and a Web portal.

Vital Statistics: Wholly owned by Microsoft (MSNBC is owned in conjunction with NBC). Launched 1994.

Target Demo: Non-techie users of all ages.

Traffic: 50,298 in July 2000.

Content: After several reorganizations and much rejiggering, MSN has amassed a portal that combines popular Microsoft properties such as Hotmail, Slate, MSNBC, Expedia, Money Central and others under a single roof. At the center of it all is Hotmail, the Net's most popular free e-mail provider. More than 60 million users worldwide come to MSN to check their e-mail, where they can then can be lured to MSN's other services.

The ugly duckling here is the MSN dial-up service, which has had lackluster performance, garnering only 3 million subscribers, relegating it to the list of also-rans. A special dialer and browser add various pull-down menus and quick links to ease navigation and keep you within the MSN Network. But no bells and whistles can make up for the rather long, sometimes arduous dial-up process.