AltaVista Offers "Real Name" Database
by Brian McWilliams, PC World News Radio
May 7, 1998
Next week the popular AltaVista Internet search engine will get a new
feature aimed at making it easier to find a product or
corporation on the Web.
AltaVista users will be able to search not only AltaVista's index of 100
million Web pages, but also Web sites registered in the
Real Name System database maintained by Centraal Corp.
Under the Real Name System, companies or individuals can pay $40 to
register keywords and phrases such as product names or
ad slogans. When users type in a registered term at the Real Name site
(or, next week, at AltaVista), they are sent directly to the
registrant's site.
According to AltaVista's director of business development, Abe Hirsch, the
Real Name option will be separated from the main
AltaVista search results.
Hirsch says, "There will be a suggestion that if you're looking for a
company name, product name, or trademark, that you search
the Real Name database by clicking here. It's an attempt to get people to
understand the difference between searching the big
Web index for all instances of a particular word versus finding a
particular site reflecting a company name or trademark."
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