Parental control software vendor NetSweeper is partnering because its experience shows that while parental controls don't sell by themselves, they are a compelling part of any complete Internet package.

by Alex Goldman ISP-Planet Managing Editor [June 1, 2004]

Guelph, Ontario-based parental control software vendor NetSweeper is building partnerships. When we spoke with security services house Zero Knowledge Systems (see For Those Scared of Offering Security), we learned that NetSweeper is one of the few external vendors the company works with.

More recently, we spoke to NetSweeper and the company's latest partner, San Jose, Calif.-based dialup accelerator Propel. Explains Greg Apple, vice president of marketing at NetSweeper, "ISPs find that when you sell parental controls by itself, you have only a one to three or four percent uptake. But bundle it with an accelerator, charge $4.95 for both, and you'll get about a 24 percent uptake."

ISPs, he says, charge one fee for both services, but do allow customers to opt out of either service for no discount.

Apple adds that when people think of parental controls, they think of a service that's more restrictive and less customizable than what NetSweeper offers. "AOL filters by age group, offering different content for ages 6 to 9, 9 to 12, and 12 to 15. There's no customization for the end user."

NetSweeper has several features that AOL lacks. "We allow the end user to choose what groups to filter. We do not tell the parent what they can and cannot do. We give the parent an allow list, a deny list, and allow the parent to see access logs of where the kids went. We also let them see a list of weekly e-mails."

No parental control vendors warrants is software against the biggest security threat—the ingenuity of young children—but NetSweeper comes close.

"We're selling to middle-aged parents, the less savvy user," says Apple. "So our technology needs to be simply to use. Kids can try to modify the Windows registry or disable a proxy, but unless the kid doesn't dial up through that ISP, they cannot get around NetSweeper."

All that technology is integrated into a proxy. Since Propel and NetSweeper are both proxy-based, integrating the software simply involved combining the proxies. That means that Propel's edge servers can handle the grunt work for NetSweeper too. NetSweeper just adds one server to the NOC in any deployment with Propel.

NetSweeper is well worth looking at. The AI filters in English, French, and Spanish. It runs in all browsers. But the most important feature, Apple says, is ease of use. And ISP-Planet does not make recommendations, except to say that you should ask to view your own demo. "It's hard to sell a service," admits Apple. "If it's good, you'll need to test drive it. You'll want to see it."

We spoke to one ISP that has deployed the product. Matthew Crocker, founder of the Internet Division of the family business, Greenfield, Mass.-based Crocker Communications, said that the company chose NetSweeper because Propel recommended it.

"We have not had any content filtering," he said. The company has, however, been interested in dialup acceleration for some time. "We been looking at Propel since they were the only ones around."

The company is rolling out Propel and NetSweeper now. It will offer full rate dialup customers, who pay $21.95 per month, a free bundle, but those on cheaper plans will have to upgrade to get the service.

The idea is to sell more to the customer base without increasing costs substantially, the value of any value-added service.

Pricing and availability
The Propel plus NetSweeper bundle is available now, under a variety of pricing scheme.

"Every deal is different," says Frank Guererro, vice president of marketing for Propel. "With our partner NetSweeper, we work on pricing to motivate the ISP to take on both."

"You can launch the accelerator first and parental control later," adds Apple. "We offer a per user per month model with a monthly minimum or an up front fee. We can charge for up to x licenses per year, or charge based on concurrent logon sessions. We're very flexible. We have 'market value pricing' for South America and the UK and Australia, because all have different concepts on how to pay and how much should be charged."

—End