Suz wrote:
> http://www.charlotte.com/0727portal.htm
>
> An interesting article that points out paradoxes in the portal concept. If
> you're interested in the portal concept, the full article may be
> worth your
> time:
Thanks for the link, Suz. I found this quote rather humorous:
<quote>How would the same people who have enthusiastically invested in a
portal react if the Department of Transportation were to design a huge
federal highway interchange with the sole objective of having drivers
continuously circle a row of billboards? Yet such a comparison is not all
that far-fetched.</quote>
The next quote also rang very true, and I think this is the main reason that
many portals will fail:
<quote>
Most portals have transitioned from intersections on the Internet to
sticking points. Obviously, most consumers will not appreciate the discovery
that someone has lined the hallway with flypaper. So the portal has to keep
up at least the illusion of movement. It continues to send users to a
destination just as before. Only now the deck is stacked in favor of
destinations that are owned by the portal itself or by its partners or
advertisers -- at least, there is very real danger that consumers will
perceive things that way.
Once a portal becomes captive to any one source of content, or is perceived
to be captive -- Snap, for example, being seen simply as an outlet for NBC
to the exclusion of other content -- it runs the risk of turning away
consumers who are looking for an open gateway to the Internet. Which, he is
quick to point out, is just about everyone.
</quote>
That exactly defines why I think the new MS Start (or msn.com) site will
fail. It is obviously a collection of big biz fodder, the kind that many
people are tired of. The net is a place that feeds the idea that anyone can
easily get "alternative" info, not just the kind of info that comes through
the TV, radio, newspaper and local self-censoring bookstore. I have my
doubts that a portal that has NBC and it's affiliates all over it will be a
bang-up success. I think what _will_ succeed will be "directories" like the
Mining Company ( http://www.miningcompany.com/ )...directories that have
someone at the helm who is not blatantly lead by the propaganda of a large
business conglomerate.
I foresee portals getting many advertising dollars from corporations who
think that if they pump enough advertising at web users then their
corporately branded world-view will prevail...but I think they will fail.
The train to some freedom from corporate brain washing is already rolling
and more and more people are getting on board.
Even people who have never even "thought" about being controlled by
advertising efforts are joining the ride. For example, my Mom. When she
fires up the web, she certainly has no interest in going to
http://www.abc.com and hearing about who killed who today. She goes
immediately to things related to her hobbies, things that the Mining Company
(or something like it) can lead her to. Compare that to the TV where, well,
she doesn't have as many choices..and thus is led into the corporate
propaganda machine. The fuel driving the net train is "freedom of choice",
something that mainstream media and advertising has fought to curtail for
years.
I foresee that some of the current portals will start developing more
comprehensive "guides" like the Mining Company, but I'm not sure how
successful they will be once they get a "corporate stamp" on them. As the
writer of the article said, these sites "run the risk of turning away
consumers who are looking for an open gateway to the Internet. Which, he is
quick to point out, is just about everyone."
A corporate brand's success on the internet depends on it's reputation. To
succeed, many of our most popular brands must improve their reputations. As
more and more people exchange their opinions, rapidly, across the world, in
public forums, reputation will become increasingly important. If some of the
investors for portal sites pay close attention to their reputations, then
maybe they'll be more successful. I think that's why Yahoo has done so well.
They are not an "in your face" company, asking you for personal info here
and there, sending cookies and doing all the little nasty things they could
be doing. Jesse Berst wrote and article about this a few weeks ago, where he
pointed out that this is Yahoo's biggest mistake. Well maybe, just maybe, it
is _really_ why Yahoo is such a success. It certainly can't be from
click-throughs on those little ads (when was the last time you clicked on
one?) It's from having a good reputation and drawing traffic.
Jack
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