Alan Meckler of internet.com, Mecklermedia and Internet World gives his views on the Internet as it stands today and its future evolution.
In the last of our trilogy of interviews with leading Internet movers and shakers, we hear today from Alan Meckler, chairman and CEO of internet.com, a leading provider of global real-time news and information resources for Internet industry and Internet technology professionals, Web developers and experienced Internet users.
Internet.com operates a network of 126 Web sites, 173 E-mail newsletters, 117 online discussion forums and 78 moderated E-mail discussion lists with over 2.4 million unique visitors that generate more than 130 million page views monthly.
Alan Meckler shoots straight from the hip. Here are some of his views on the Internet as it stands today and how he sees it evolving.
- The Internet is still very robust - perhaps in the first inning of a nine inning game.
- What public market says about Internet stocks has nothing to do with the changes the Internet is causing throughout organizations and industry.
- Dot coms are not dead. The opportunities are greater than ever!
- Many of the metrics and the models people have used over the last 4-5 years - including, quantity page views and brands - have been wrong.
- Quality, traffic and verticality will be the key to how people will use the Internet.
- People will not go to a brand. They will go where intelligent agents tell them the cheapest price or best content resides.
- There is no loyalty on the Internet. User loyalty will be to the best content and cheapest prices.
- To succeed Internet companies must be focused and very vertical. Being horizontal is the Waterloo of companies.
- The great differentiator in e-tailing is going to be content added to the e-tailing site.
Meckler's closing point has to do with staying focused. E-tailers that have to fight on twenty fronts will not be able to keep up with those that only have to fight on one front, he says, pointing out that Amazon is fighting on many fronts. The last word: "He who defends many fronts defends no fronts at all." Amazon, you have been warned.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on August 1, 2000.