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The Globe, EarthLink join forces

The two firms join the trend of online communities and Net access providers teaming up to go after online giant America Online.

2 min read
Online community TheGlobe.com today announced that it is teaming up with Net service provider EarthLink to provide service to the Globe's customers.

The Globe will distribute CD-ROMs with its interface and access provided through EarthLink.

The deal is part of a trend for online communities and Internet service providers to partner to provide a full package to end users.

Companies are cutting deals with each other to leverage each other's strengths. GeoCities, an online community that allows people to build their own Web pages, for instance, has been cutting e-commerce deals with companies such as Egghead Computer and Net bookseller Amazon.

Businesses also are buying up other companies that they hope will give them a ready-made community. In February, Lycos bought online community Tripod. And earlier this month, search engine Infoseek bought community WebChat Broadcasting System.

As part of today's deal, EarthLink and the Globe will not purchase each other's assets, but rather will leverage them, the firm's said.

The Globe stands to gain new members by offering them not only a community, but also a way to get onto the Net. EarthLink stands to gain new customers willing to pay for access.

Executives from the Globe, which recently began a major ad campaign that includes television commercials, said that more than 100,000 people per month have been joining the community, which has more than 1.3 million members.

The Globe is hoping its combination of community and Net access will give it a bigger arsenal to go after the major player in the market--America Online.

Founded by Cornell University students Todd Krizelman and Stephan Paternot in 1994, the Globe is privately funded. In the summer of 1997, the company received a $20 million investment from Michael Egan, former owner of Alamo Rent-A-Car. Other investors include David Horowitz, founder of MTV Networks; Bob Halperin, former chief executive of Raychem; and David Duffield, chief executive of Peoplesoft, according to the Globe.

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