UKNM: Re: Portals?

[Ray Taylor]

Portals? By which you mean search engines, directories, indexes, etc, etc.


Portals are about wrapping second hand content around one or two bits of

newish information.


We are about to see (in the UK) an explosion of original content generation

that will make the "portals" look silly. The smart money will be placed with

high-value original content, business and entertainment, niche and

mass-market.


Leaders in 1999 are likely to be Beeb, TescoNet, ft.com, Reed Business

Information (high-price niche industy info products), gameszone, and a few

others.


This constant recycling of information that has characterised the early

years of the Web will not survive 1999.


Good luck to NetNames for making the most of good PR opportunities. But I

think David is right. The days of the portal are numbered.


Ray Taylor

NMC/Adplan London



David Bentley said:

>

>I for one am very suspicious of concepts of the moment - like 'portals'.

>To ally yourself with something which will soon become passe is perhaps ill

>advised.  Everyone is a 'portal' and everyone wants to be a 'portal'.

>Surely NetNames is a service which can be franchised to portals - thus not

>actually being a portal - Perhaps that is the point of portal enabling

>tool...

>