AOL's Newest Alliance

AOL works with Inktomi and network service provider Adero to supply subscribers to content providers.

by Jayson Matthews
of siliconvalley.internet.com
[August 25, 2000]

Inktomi, a developer of scalable Internet infrastructure software, announced this week an alliance of technology and network service providers that it says will establish the next wave of high-end content distribution across the Web.

The main players in the new "Content Bridge" alliance include network service provider Adero and Internet service provider (ISP) giant America Online.

The alliance is logical according to the the old "content is king" maxim, a standard many pundits (and a few online journalists) have complained was lost in much of the technological uprising of the Net during the past 10 years.

The ISP channel
Inktomi says the alliance will provide a platform for cross-network content distribution between all participating member ISPs, enabling any content provider who participates to automatically supply their most current content to a tremendous spectrum of publishing outlets.

Under this agreement, Inktomi will deliver core network infrastructure technology at the backbone, while Adero will be tasked with ensuring content is updated across all member networks, as well as provide centralized billing and settlement services for cross-network transactions. Big poppa AOL will sit back and deploy Content Bridge technology through its extensive network, reaching out to more than 23 million users.

The fall
Content Bridge is expected to begin rolling out in Fall 2000, with Digital Island, Exodus Communications, Genuity, Mirror Image Internet, Madge.web, and NetRail the first members to participate in the Bridge.

"This announcement highlights our continuing commitment to building out our network and bringing our members the best Internet experience available," says Joe Barrett, AOL's VP for Internet Operations. "The Content Bridge alliance provides an additional option for content providers to maximize existing technology and provide users a streamlined path to their content."

David Peterschmidt, president and CEO of Inktomi, says Content Bridge represents the next phase in evolving the Internet, allowing all participants in the content distribution value chain to deliver fast, reliable Internet services. The announcement comes on the tail end of a recent report from Forrester Research, which concluded the expansion of broadband has elevated user demand for fast and reliable content far more than it has for eye-catching multimedia.

"As broadband-enabled users rely on the Net for self-service, they'll favor sites that help accomplish goals without being interrupted by unwanted things like cartoons and movie clips," says Randy Souza, associate analyst at Forrester Research. "Firms should take advantage of broadband's ability to deliver content to upgrade their sites — by moving data, presentation, and function to the desktop — not abusing visitors with intrusive glitz."

The new Content Bridge joins the ranks of hundreds of "personalized" content channels trying to tap into niche markets throughout the Web, as well as an amalgamation of syndication houses like San Francisco-based iSyndicate and iVendor. With AOL's backing, however, the Bridge may already have crossed the biggest channels before even starting.

"There is always going to be some resistance to content sharing," says Forrester Research Senior Analyst Brook Newcomb. "Every firm wants to be the place where consumers aggregate their information, but nobody wants their information aggregated to other sites. Our take is that sites are going to have to get use to it; its something out there that major players are adopting."

—End