C/Net.com - Web Sites Prey on Rivals' Stores (Aug. 7/01)
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Web Sites prey on rivals' stores
By Stephanie Olsen August 7, 2001
A growing number of online companies are ambushing competitors
through software that puts ads where marketers want them most--in front of customers
visiting rival Web sites.
It's called getting "Gatored," after one of the most popular applications
underlying it, and some Web sites are out to restrict the practice. But for
others it's fast becoming an effective way to feast on competitors in their
own front yard.
One e-tailer that's been bitten is 1-800-Flowers.com. When certain
Web surfers visit the site to browse for bouquets, a pop-up ad appears for $10
off at chief rival FTD.com. The same sort of thing happens at AmericanAirlines.com,
where a Delta Air Lines promotion is waiting in the wings.
Ads like these find their way onto browser windows through "plug-ins"
that come bundled with certain software downloads. Several companies are behind
the practice, including the eponymous Gator.com.
One online executive referred to Gator and other such programs
as "hijackware," applications that easily whisk consumers from a point
of sale at one site to a competitor’s site.
Gator is a so-called online helper application that has millions
of active users and manages passwords and user IDs. While Gator is free, the
company that makes it sells keywords to marketers that lets them launch pop-ups
at opportune moments--for example, when a Web surfer visits a competing site.
"Our own clients get Gatored," said I-Traffic
media director Jerry Quinn, who says he has purchased Gator keywords for some
of his clients. I-Traffic buys online advertising space for companies such as
Staples, British Airways and The Discovery Channel. "We don't like it,
but it's fairly competitive."
