The price of a Netscape search listing
Rohit Khare (khare@pest.w3.org)
Mon, 18 Mar 96 17:26:33 -0500
> Netscape, you see, isn't offering consumers access to
> these companies out of the goodness of its own heart.
> Users wouldn't know it from looking, but Netscape's not
> offering the best search services on its list - just the
> ones willing to pay for the privilege of maintaining
> their market share. The message from Netscape to the
> search boys is simple: 85 percent of the population uses
> Netscape; 90 percent of them don't know how to change
> their homepage. If you don't pay now to reach them, you'll
> pay later in market share - and in the value of your
> company. We've learned from certain unhappy parties that
> the top five favored firms that succumb to the
> extortionists of Mountain View must each supplement
> Netscape's currently meager revenue stream to the tune
> of US$1 million per quarter. Presto! For the price of
> a CGI script that randomly sorts the search icons when
> the page is loaded, Netscape will add an extra $20 million
> to its annual revenue line. Even the lowly parties below
> the top five must ante up a cool $75,000 per quarter for
> their simple text listings on the Netscape pages. Control
> over the cartel, of course, rests solely in the hands of
> Netscape: membership in the Big Five victims pool is by
> invitation only. The message to all the engineers out
> there who think they've got the next killer search
> algorithm: Don't call Netscape, they'll call you.