Ever since Microsoft Corp. took it to task on the browser front, Netscape Communications Corp. has been busy working up new strategic initiatives on a rather regular basis. With the Wednesday unveiling of a partnership to put free email on its Netcenter homepage, the software company signaled it hasn’t given up on being a Net guide too.
"We hope to become the major portal service in the next year ... in terms of revenue and traffic," said Mike Homer, executive vice president and general manager of Netscape's Web site division.
It’s not a bad space to be in, considering the amazing climb in the stocks of Yahoo Inc., Excite Inc., Infoseek Corp., and Lycos Inc. Of course, all those Web guides have been adding new features and services right and left -- stuff like email, home page hosting, shopping, and personalization tools -- to turn what used to be simple search engines into full-on "portals," or entryways into most everything the Web has to offer.
Netscape apparently plans to do the same. The Mountain View, California-based company announced a partnership with USA.Net to bring free email to Netcenter members. And over the next two months, Netscape will announce other partnerships to put a search button, directory, content channels, and personalization services on its site, the company said.
Netscape has long described its homepage as the "low-hanging fruit" of its business, since millions of people who use its browser never change the default "home" setting from the company’s front door. It is ranked as the second most popular site on the Web by RelevantKnowledge, and has long pulled in substantial revenues for the software-maker.
Now it looks like Netscape is preparing to take better advantage of its site. It launched Netcenter seven months ago and says it now has 4.3 million members. The company estimates that some 70 million people use its browsers. Getting more of them to use the Netcenter would of course mean greater advertising and partnership possibilities, sweetening the company’s bottom line. And that wouldn’t be a bad thing.
Netscape has suffered on the cash front lately, with less than stellar returns on its attempt to conquer the enterprise service software. In January, Netscape laid off one-eighth of its 3,200-person force in the wake of an estimated US$85 million to $89 million fourth-quarter loss. Its stock is trading at about US$25, down from nearly $50 last summer.
