Free Internet service launched
mar...@openspace.com
-----------> This message was posted to the ONLINE-NEWS list. <-----------
From the 1/5/98 Cincinnati Business Courier:=20
http://www.amcity.com/cincinnati/stories/current/story6.html
>Free Internet service launched by ad firm Tritium signing advertisers for
'targeted buy'
> =20
>Rajiv Sekhri Courier Staff Reporter=20
>
> The first local commercial provider of free access to the Internet began=
=20
>offering the service in Greater Cincinnati Jan. 2.
>
> At least several thousand people have signed up locally for the Tritium=
=20
>Internet network, said Mike Lee, president of InterAD Group, a local=20
>advertising company that is the parent of Tritium. Local Tritium=
subscribers=20
>will be connected to the free Internet service on a first-come/first-served=
=20
>basis.
..
> In Tritium's service, revenue is generated from advertisers, who will be=
=20
>able to buy 30-second commercials that will cover the cost for the users.
Lee=20
>estimates that an ad will cost $40 per 1,000 viewers.
>
> While users browse through cyberspace, a steady stream of ads will
appear on=20
>the bottom 12 percent of the screen, Lee said.
>
> Tritium officials say the company has signed up more than 40 major=20
>advertisers, including American Express Corp., Pruden-tial Securities Co.,
Nine=20
>West Corp.'s Easy Spirit women's footwear brand and Clopay Corp. building=
=20
>materials.
..
> While some experts praise Tritium, others are skeptical about the
company's=20
>advertising-based revenue model. That way of doing business differs from=20
>traditional Internet service providers that make money by charging
consumers a=20
>monthly rate of about $20.
>
> Tritium will launch its service in five additional cities - New York,=20
>Chicago, Boston, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. - by the end of=
February.
..
> Still, some critics s believe that Tritium will have a tough time
enticing=20
>advertisers.
>
> "Internet advertising has proven to be very difficult, and it's not
growing=20
>the way people expected it to grow," said Gary Arlen, president of=
Bethesda,=20
>Md.-based Arlen Com-munications Inc., a research and consulting company=
that=20
>specializes in Internet and high-tech issues.
>
> "Because users will be accessing the service for free, advertisers could=
=20
>perceive them as less attractive," Arlen said.
>
> Critics also point to the failure of HyperNet, a San Francisco-based=20
>Internet service provider, which pulled the plug on its free, ad-supported
Web=20
>service last July.
..
>=A9 1998, Cincinnati Business Courier=20
--
Martin T. O'Donnell <mar...@openspace.com>
VP Marketing & Business Development
OpenSpace Corp., Seattle
+1.206.667.0025, 0026 fax
Online Editors & Publishers: check out
_Industry News_ at http://www.openspace.com
=20
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