Bizarre as the question might seem, it highlights the strangeness of the latest marketing fad to sweep the Web. Then there was your company's e-mail server. Now Web users can get mail from Discovery Online. They can get it from American Express. Soon, thanks to a deal announced late last month, they'll be able to get it from Business Week 's online site.
Nobody wants an on-screen brochure.
Everybody wants a destination. Pursuing that elusive goal, Web developers have latched onto each new idea with almost religious fervor. Until recently, search engines were the primary portals. As Web-based mail has swept the primary portal sites, the mania has started to filter down through the rest of the Net. It brings customers in and keeps them there.