Excite@Home - Excite, 1994-1998

EXCITE (1994-1998)

Excite was one of the first Internet search engines. It began in 1994 as a project of some Stanford University graduate students who founded Architext Software and developed software to navigate large databases. As Internet use began to grow, Excite was used as a search engine for Usenet. After changing its name to Excite Inc., the company went public on April 4, 1996 with its initial public offering (IPO). The Tribune Co. bought an eight-percent interest in Excite for $7 million. George Bell, former senior vice president of Times Mirror Magazines, was hired as CEO.

Following the introduction of My Yahoo!, Excite introduced a makeover of its Web site in July 1996 that included a menu of defined-content categories on its opening page. The new Excite also included reviews and ratings of some 60,000 Web sites and claimed the largest database of all search engines with 50 million Web pages. The company also acquired The McKinley Group, creator of the Magellan On-Line Guide. At the time, Excite ranked fifth among Internet search engines.

Before the end of 1996 Excite had added a broad array of information and services to encourage Web users to make the site their default home page. Among these offerings were City.Net, an information service covering major U.S. and international cities, along with a variety of reviews, news, directories, and other references. In December 1996 Excite and America Online (AOL) announced that Excite would become AOL's exclusive Internet search engine, although AOL users could still navigate the Web with other search engines. At the time AOL had about 7 million subscribers and was in the process of introducing its fixed price plan at $19.95 per month. As part of the deal, AOL also sold its WebCrawler to Excite and doubled its ownership interest in Excite to 20 percent.

An article in Fortune noted that, of all the leading Internet search engines, Excite appeared to be in the most precarious financial position at the end of 1996. The company's stock had lost about two-thirds of its value since its IPO. Additionally, the firm had spent $30 million on acquisitions, partnerships, and advertising in 1996.

As Internet usage surged in 1997, Internet search engines earned higher advertising revenue. For the third quarter Yahoo! reported a $1.6 million profit on revenue of $17 million. However, Excite and Lycos continued to operate at a loss.

During 1998 Excite and other Internet search engines continued to redefine themselves as Internet portals, adding new services and content. In its review of 11 Web portals, PC Magazine rated Excite as "the best portal on the Web." The magazine noted that Excite offered excellent personalization tools, a search feature that anticipated what you were looking for, and a sense of community. For example, Excite Communities—a service that combined e-mail, chat, calendar, and other online networking functions—was introduced in August 1998. For 1999, Excite's goal was to be among the top five Internet portals.