Netvibes now feeding business customers

This morning Netvibes is launching Premium Universes, a new program for businesses to get their own branded start page that can be integrated into their existing site, without jettisoning users off elsewhere. The intent is for site users to get the same functionality they'd get at Netvibes.com, while at the site owner's page. Site owners in turn, can place as much advertising outside of the Netvibes page as they'd like, supplementing the use of the service--and hopefully their revenue.

In terms of features, there's really nothing new from the Netvibes Universe program that launched in mid-April. Site owners can still aggregate the start pages with their own widget content from the get-go, similar to how others like Wired, and The New York Times have done with their iterations. The pages can also be branded to match.

A Netvibes start page is a handy addition to any site, and I think sites with a ton of RSS feeds would do a service to their users by adding one of these pages simply to give people a preview of the feed before they bother to subscribe--something Netvibes does very well. Although, I question people's technical comfort with these platforms, despite their baseline simplicity--which is where I can see people ignoring the functionality, and continuing to rely on more mainstream, and centrally located aggregators like iGoogle and myAOL (review).

Premium Universes is launching with four partners, including Tagged.com, MIVA, and two French newspapers Les Echos and Le Figaro.