Infoseek reportedly is no
longer accepting ads for adult sites. The move comes just prior to the launch
of the Go Network, a joint venture between Infoseek and Walt Disney.
CNET’s news.com quoted analysts as saying the move is
no surprise and likely reflects the influence of Disney’s family-oriented
philosophy. Disney took a lot of heat from the Southern Baptists a few years
ago for some of its non-family movies and rumors of activities for gay people
at a theme park.
Infoseek reportedly will offer with the new portal a suite of tools that lets
Go users filter out the Net’s adult sites. An Infoseek spokeswoman was quoted
by Reuters as saying the companies would launch a beta version of the new
site, go.com, before the end of the year, and plan to take the service live in
January.
Disney last summer announced plans to acquire a 43 percent stake in Infoseek.
“I don’t think any company affiliated with Disney will have a relationship
with adult-oriented advertisers,” Evan Neufeld, an analyst at Jupiter
Communications in New York City, told news.com A telephone call to Infoseek by
IAR was not returned.
Market research firm Forrester Research has predicted that the online adult
entertainment industry would generate revenues of $185 million in 1998.