It was intended for individual users surfing the web for their individual entertainment or personal business. But Netscape has muddied up these waters by talking about its site offering both a Consumer Portal and also Business Portals for business users. In fact, organizations often restrict access to the web itself and prefer that most of their users remain in their Intranet space, except for business research. No portals needed here. The firewalls business organizations require often preclude successful portal interactions.
Portals are advertising supported.
But this is a very new business model. If customers and sales fail to follow, it is unlikely that these hefty fees will be enduring. This business model may melt as easily as some Internet IPO's inflated market caps. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this publication in any form without prior written permission is forbidden.