Netscape Communications
Corp. said today it signed agreements with AltaVista, Infoseek Corp., LookSmart International Ltd., and Lycos Inc. to complement its Netcenter search engine roster, which already includes Excite
Inc. and Netscape Net Search Powered By Excite.
Netscape public relations spokeswoman Jody Kramer said the company
is also in talks with Yahoo! to continue
its relationship as a “Distinguished” partner. The other search companies will be featured prominently as “Premier” partners.
The contingent of search providers is part of Netscape’s Net Search
program, scheduled to launch June 1 on its Netcenter portal site. The company’s Net Search Page featuring all six search engines will divvy up search requests: Both the Netscape and Excite search engines will each get 25% of the search rotations, with the remaining 50% farmed out among the other Premier Providers, although no single provider will be able to receive more than 15%.
“This year, we’ve expanded Net Search to include Netscape’s new branded search in order to build user loyalty for the Netcenter Portal site by increasing recirculation to Netcenter’s services,” said Mike Homer, executive vice president and general manager of Netscape’s Netcenter division. “In addition, to address the needs of millions of individuals using Net Search each day, we will continue to offer customers a choice of leading search providers including Excite, AltaVista, Infoseek, LookSmart and Lycos.”
Users will be able to conduct the searches from Netscape’s home page. In
addition, the Premier search providers will display Netscape Now! tabs and graphics on their own services.
Netscape also announced plans today to launch the new Netscape Channel, a component of its “Project 60” portal campaign. The channel will offer Netscape news, editorial, and technical content, along with material from its DevEdge Online and Open Studio sites.
The Channel will also be featured on the sites of Netscape’s Premier providers, and when various computer or Internet-related terms are searched for, users will be linked back to the Channel for more information.
