IQ News: Search for Tomorrow - Search engines are on the lookout for new identities.

As competition among online companies grows fiercer, many of them have confronted their identity crises by affixing new labels onto what they do. The steady public relations drone elicits such declarations as, "We're not a software company, we're a media company" or "We're not a media company, we're a technology back-end provider." And no one is struggling more than competitors in the search-engine category to redefine themselves. Despite their heavy traffic, search engines have often been viewed as way stations at which users pause briefly before going elsewhere. Thus, consumer-oriented search services such as Yahoo!, Excite and Infoseek are now seeking ways to hold onto the eyeballs that pass through their pages and redefine their missions accordingly. The jury on whether such repackagings will work is still anybody's guess. Excite perceives itself as a free online service, Infoseek as an enabling media company, and Yahoo! as a media company serving a panoply of demographic and geographic interests. The ultimate goal is to transform what were once simple search-and-retrieval sites into robust, free services that can translate heavy traffic into advertising and commerce-related revenue streams. To some extent, the redefinitions are backed by audience data. Excite now generates less than half its traffic from search services, says Joe Kraus, senior vice president and co-founder of Excite. Founded in 1994 as a search service with some 50 million Web documents in its database, Excite now uses search as a platform on which to build traffic. "We are redefining what it means to be a free online service on the Web," he says. "Traditionally, an online service provided you with connectivity, content, navigation and community. Now it's an open network, so connectivity and content are everywhere." Thus, services such as Excite have launched a variety of touchy-feely new services that have nothing to do with search and retrieval. In April of this year, Excite switched to the channel format to reorganize its database in topical areas, a scheme favored by content-focused services such as the PointCast Network and America Online. In May, Excite launched chat and PAL, or Personal Access List, a Web-based version of AOL's community-building "Buddy Lists," which allow members to instantly message friends who are online at the same time. Most recently, Excite launched its shopping channel to build on transactions as an additional revenue stream. "We have constantly avoided the term search engine," Kraus says. "Our goal is how do we take people who come for search and expand what Excite has to offer?" Infoseek's goals are similar to Excite's. Infoseek initially launched at the same time as Excite as a $9.95 monthly service, but soon went free when the company realized it could get more traffic and advertisers without the fee. But Beth Lenahan, Infoseek's general manager of consumer marketing, prefers the words "enabling media company," to describe what the service delivers. "We're a huge navigation point on the Net," she says. "We see delivering information that will help people make decisions and eventually [make] transactions. Clearly, navigation alone is not what the game is about." Lenahan envisions Infoseek's breadth of offerings as touching on every point in that process. For instance, the service might contain a mortgage calculator that would help users evaluate payment plans, and then move to the next step of applying for a mortgage, all within the site. Someone using search capabilities is intent-driven, she points out. "That's where the value is for consumers and online companies, advertisers or commerce companies, making that the shortest spectrum between finding the information and closing the transaction." Advertisers, however, seem to care mostly about traffic and pay little attention to search engine makeovers. "I don't really care about their positioning," says Steve Klein, managing partner, director of media and interactive services, Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners. "I care about how many different users they have and how the users behave when they see ads." In fact, Klein even disputes the value of the pinpoint targeting that the search engines are so keen on delivering. "The advertiser looking for click-though wants to find a user somewhat aimless in looking for stuff," he claims. "Some sites are getting highly directed users. I don't want people so directed." Of the major search services, Yahoo! leads in both traffic--it had a 36.8 percent market share among search-engine type businesses, according to July data from Media Metrix--and in the reach of its services. Even though the company is thought of in the online world as the granddaddy of search engines, company officials say their intention was always for Yahoo! to be more than a search service. They have settled on the simple identity of "media company" to describe Yahoo!'s mission. Yahoo! has spun off sites around demographic, geographic and subject areas. It produces international sites, locally-focused sites; Yahooligans! for Kids; unfURLed, a joint music site with MTV; and Beatrice's Web Guide, a joint venture with Wire Networks. All have chat and bulletin boards, and commerce is a revenue stream that threads throughout the sites. Not surprisingly, as Yahoo! becomes more comprehensive and responsive to user wants, there are even hints that it may one day offer its visitors free email, though Yahoo declines comment on such plans. "When we started Yahoo!, we started with a directory offering around subjects," says Tim Koogle, president and CEO. "We understood that had value as a guide. What occurred to us in 1995 was if we did a good job with the navigation guide, the users would show us what was most popular on the Web." As the business evolves, it still looks as though category executives such as Koogle would do well to never forget the basics: who is visiting their site and why. Says Jesse Berst, who follows the online industry as editorial director of ZDNet's AnchorDesk.com, "It's about getting customer loyalty and turning that loyalty into revenue."

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IQ News: Search for Tomorrow - Search engines are on the lookout for new identities.

Anya Sacharow

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Anya Sacharow