| This study examines the history of the Walt Disney Company's Go Network Internet portal from its debut in December 1998 to its closure in January 2001 and describes how the portal was used to cross-promote Disney brands online. Despite the backing of the Disney empire, and after near-instant popularity, the Go Network was shut down in less than three years time. From this examination, three political and economic factors appeared to have contributed most to the Go Network's collapse: (1) Disney's failure to establish a prominent and viable brand name for the portal, (2) FTC and FCC approval of the AOL/Time Warner merger, (3) and a vexing trademark lawsuit brought by the rival GoTo Internet portal. Based on these observations, this study also examines the broader implications of commercial World Wide Web portals on the Internet's role as an information-seeking device. |
