When e-commerce means happiness...
by Arnab Ray Ghatak
Over 12 million Netizens have Hotbar-enabled browsers and it's been
voted as the 8th most downloaded application on the Web.
"What I like is the whole concept. This is absolutely one great site.
I'm in a wheelchair. Your site lets me bring spring flowers inside,
fall trees inside, snow scenes, animals, motorcycles, art, scenery, and it
lets me contribute my own ideas for others to see. Wow! I have absolutely
nothing negative at all to say about this fantastic web site.
Smile - you've done a great job!" - User testimonial @ hotbar.com
1. FOR THOSE WHO CAME IN LATE
Have you noticed how the Net has merged reality and fantasy together
to generate some really crazy 'products'? Products that wouldn't have
survived in the real world because they are too... radical? indya.com
profiles some of these, beginning with the 'Dashboard to the Internet' -
Hotbar.
Hotbar is an application that once downloaded (from www.hotbar.com),
transforms your drab browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator)
toolbar into a super funky customised guide to the Net (complete with Skins
that users can design themselves), with a whole lot of links to cool
parking spots on the Web.
It's a great business idea: While it lets users get creative and customise
the way they surf, it also offers interested online ventures ads (clickable
links) where they have maximum impact - right in front of the users' eyes,
on their browser window.
indya.com interviewed Ms Gabriella Karni, co-founder and president of
Hotbar.com over the e-Mail about the concept and it's future. An excerpt:
Personalised browsing. when exactly did the idea evolve at Hotbar?
Being 'there' at the right time must've been a crucial advantage -
were/ are there any rivals or peers in this field?
The idea for personalized browsing originated with the Skins. As we
know most people personalize their desks at the office with pictures
of their loved ones or items that have a personal connection
to them. We figured that as people spend so much time on the
Internet, why shouldn't they be able to personalize that as well? The
Internet is a window to the world, so why not bring the world to
the Internet?
We like to think of ourselves as Internet colonialists - we took the
static, desert like landscape of the toolbar, colonized it with
personal graphics and dynamic content. Thus, we turned this desert
into a colorful dynamic fantasyland, which is also the most valuable
real-estate on the Web. Well, it caught on like wildfire because
personalization is a basic human need, and we gave an answer to
this need.
The idea for the toolbar started with one button on which we wanted
to feature the 20 best sites on the Web. Then naturally, we went
even further, adding more categories of buttons so we could help
each particular Hotbar user have the most personalized surfing
experience on the Web.
This is probably the first time, elements of visual computer interfaces
(such as the tool bar of IE or Netscape) are being looked at from an
advertising angle. How soon before users have mundane computer actions
sponsored or commercialized? (for instance, the windows explorer
window could carry a clickable link to a software vendor's site etc)
We have considered your question deeply. We have decided not to use
the toolbar as an advertising tool, at least for the near future.
The toolbar is the user's private property and we would not like
to invade his property with a commercialized content. We have deep
respect for our users and although this can be another revenue
channel to Hotbar we refrain from being intrusive to the user.
However, I think you'll be seeing that more and more in the coming
years.
Yours is a unique product -- something that doesn't have too many
offline/real world analogies. What other such concepts do you think
surfers are likely to encounter in the next five years?
The next big concept will be the Version 3 of the Hotbar toolbar which
is a completely revolutionary concept of a toolbar, with no other
competitor in the market. In about two months, Hotbar will launch a
new, even more personalized service on the Web that will completely and
utterly change the way people surf the Web and shop on the Web. The
unrivalled Toolbar of Version 3 is something that we have been working
on for sometime now, and it is just about ready for launch. This is the
concept that will be a template for all personalization tools on
the Web. It is going to be big, and we are extremely excited about
it.
How successful is Hotbar in getting customers for the advertisers?
And how loyal are its communities? How many user-designed skins do
you receive in a month?
We can give our advertisers immediate integration to millions of
browsers -- overnight! Our clients see that potential and how lucrative
that can be. That said, we are extremely successful at getting both
advertisers and customers for them. Our clients offer some of the best
goods and services on the Web, and Hotbar's users certainly respond to
that.
Version 3.0, introduces matchless ways to bring users the most relevant
and targeted content, and to bring the advertisers, as well as eCommerce
sites the most relevant costumers. The unrivalled Toolbar will be a real
asset to the user, the most targeted media platform for advertisers, and
a powerful revenue source to Hotbar.
Recently, Hotbar was ranked as the 8th most downloaded software on
the Net.
Over 12 million users have downloaded the Hotbar since it's inception,
and the feedback we receive from our users is nothing short of
incredible. People love the service, and they especially love the services
we offer on the toolbar, which makes a more profitable e-business for both
Hotbar and the companies we do business with.
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