andrewg - 7:04 pm on Jan 13, 2003 (gmt 0)

It's too late. AltaVista lost.

A comeback is out of the question. Going "clean" now won't save them. They already tried that with Raging Search, and their new AV interface is cleaner than it used to be. Raging Search flopped because it was yet another flip-flop in an ever-changing message. Consumers can only process so much information.

Trying to out-Google Google after Google has Googled you will get you nowhwere.

It simply doesn't matter. AltaVista is yesterday's search engine.

I strongly disagree with the contention that "hype" is what made Google win, or that AV can reclaim past glories by turning on the hype jets now. If you're a member of the press you will know that this is just what AV *has* been doing - with nothing to back up the hype, with no genuine consumer interest, and with fewer and fewer reporters showing sympathy with a company that has lied to them in the past and which does not seem particularly serious about its own product.

Hype is not the answer. AV has failed because it hyped itself when it had nothing to hype. It failed to maintain its leadership position, failed to differentiate itself when it mattered.

Fundamentals, not a lack of hype, are why AV failed. Saying one thing, then doing another, is not my idea of marketing.

New product features are not the fundamentals I'm speaking of. I'm talking about a clear identity, a clear difference, a clear ongoing relationship with an identifiable market. AV has none of these, and neither features nor hype will create them out of thin air. Consistency was needed. AV failed to deliver.

Game over.