Idealab's latest: free Web-based intranets
The company that brought CitySearch, Free-PC, and eToys to the Web plans to offer businesses a hub for launching applications, hosting, and domain services.
Intranets.com, the latest venture to be launched by Web incubator Idealab, says it is the first Web site to offer free intranet services. Businesses use intranets to manage and distribute information, computer files, and documents, often over wide geographic areas. Intranets also provide a hub for launching applications such as group calendars and discussion software.
"Although independent studies demonstrate that intranet deployment returns an outstanding yield on investment, small to medium-sized businesses and organizations typically do not have the resources to develop these applications themselves," a page on the company's Web site reads.
"There's going to be a tremendous amount of user registration data, allowing targeted ads as well as local ads," said Jae Kim, an analyst at Paul Kagan & Associates. "This probably could be one of the most effective Web-based local advertising models."
Shopping.com, an e-commerce site backed by Gross, has watched its stock hover around 10, well below its 52-week high of 24, after the Securities and Exchange Commission and a private arbitration panel criticized the company's accounting methods.
In addition, IdeaMarket, an online library of content, scaled back its offerings and watched most of its staff leave.
But more typical of Idealab are companies such as local business directory CitySearch and eToys, the top online seller of toys. Together, the two companies are valued in the billions. CitySearch last year scrapped plans to go public after it agreed to merge with USA Networks' Ticketmaster. The combined company, Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch, launched an initial public offering in October 1998, selling about $92 million worth of stock.