Sunday - August 13, 2000

Company Tries to Turn Internet into Virtual Real Estate

ViOS, creator of a new 3D interface and environment that encompasses the entire Internet, will showcase a unique alternative to increasingly ineffective banner advertising at the Jupiter Online Advertising Forum in NY, Aug. 15-17.

The ViOS interface presents the entire Internet in a new, shared, fully navigable landscape. Every Web site on the Internet is accessible within a 3D landscape populated by major cities, small towns, vast natural areas and other real-world elements.

ViOS's free software, set to begin shipping in the fourth quarter, will make it easier for Internet users to comprehend, identify, navigate and access a tremendous wealth of digital content.

ViOS also delivers a new medium for advertising, brand positioning and extending brand awareness online. ViOS's patented "Instant Lease" process, a virtual real estate leasing and development system, lets anyone "lease space in cyberspace." They choose where and how they want to be seen -- whether that's next to a leading portal, a major content site, or out in the countryside on their own. Companies can quickly and easily establish and build a 3D presence in the ViOS Internet Landscape(tm) for a low monthly fee that is influenced by the existing population of a particular area. In ViOS, location and proximity have value--just like in real life. Companies can also opt to build a large, highly customized presence -- or even an entire city of their own -- by working directly with ViOS.

"Today's system of Web pages and banner ads is fundamentally flawed - for businesses and Internet users," says Bruce Milligan, chief marketing officer, ViOS. "Click through rates are declining while the cost of placing an ad on a page with meaningful traffic is beyond the reach of many companies. ViOS is applying real-world value drivers -- location, proximity, traffic -- to a new 3D Internet environment. By transforming the Internet into an accessible, self-organizing landscape, ViOS will introduce a new, better way for people and businesses to interact online."

The company claims that with ViOS, advertisers have the chance to achieve what is difficult to achieve in today's flat Web page-based Internet--namely, continuous visibility and community affiliation, along with creative, cost-effective opportunities for product placement and brand development. Further, advertisers and content providers who had little control (creative or otherwise) over the placement of their ads on 2D Web pages will find that ViOS offers them greater freedom and flexibility. They can change the location and appearance of advertisements at any time in order to increase awareness among targeted customers.

ViOS's patented business model allows companies or individuals to pay a fixed monthly fee influenced by existing population in a given area. The first businesses to lease space in a particular area pay a low, fixed monthly fee. Just like in the real world, there are significant discounts for first-movers. Properties that are leased later, are surrounded or near other established properties, or have significant special needs for customization, will cost incrementally more. Ultimately, ViOS can deliver substantially lower CPM's (cost per thousand) for all advertisers and businesses.

ViOS will sponsor a breakfast at the Jupiter Online Advertising Forum on Tuesday, August 15. ViOS will also be exhibiting its technology and vision in booth 3B.

Industrial Supplies Industry Thrives Online
Buyers, suppliers and distributors in the $1 trillion industrial supply industry are likely to almost double their use of the Internet to conduct commerce transactions within the next 12 months, according to a new survey.

The findings show that today, 34 percent of the trading partners in this huge global market are developing and incorporating e-commerce strategies to fulfill their bottom-line business objectives. That number will increase to 67 percent by next year, and 83 percent in five years.

The survey, conducted via e-mail May 9-15 by Harris Interactive, a leading market research firm, and IndustrialAmerica, an online business-to-business industrial supply trading site for buyers, suppliers and distributors, interviewed nearly 1,000 buyers, sellers and distributors of materials such as electrical supplies, pipes, valves, fittings, power transmission products and metal-cutting products.

Currently, the dominant method for conducting transactions in this industrial supplies market has been through the telephone or fax machine, according to Chuck Sheridan, president and chief executive officer of IndustrialAmerica.

Today, only one-third of buyers (36 percent), sellers (23 percent) and distributors (31 percent) optimize the Internet to help them conduct transactions worldwide. Within the next five years, usage rates will increase dramatically: Distributors intend to use the Internet 90 percent of the time to facilitate the distribution of these goods; and buyers and sellers expect their adoption to escalate to 80 percent.
Respondents stated the main reasons for using the Internet are convenience, speed and the ability to make price/product comparisons online.

"The true value of the Internet in business today is providing a common ground for buyers, sellers and distributors to conduct transactions quickly and profitably," said Sheridan. "These online exchanges are particularly valuable in markets where e-commerce is still in its infancy, such as the industrial supplies industry."

"The benefits of online exchanges will be threefold," added Sheridan. "Buyers will have tremendous cost savings both in terms of operational and production costs; sellers will have unprecedented control and ability to sell their brand to more customers while dramatically lowering operating costs; and distributors will have the ability to cultivate sales and sell more to customers without increasing sales and marketing costs while reducing overall operating expenses."

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