PALO ALTO: Internet search engine AltaVista Monday said it would discontinue
its free email service at the end of March as it intensifies its focus on search
technologies.
In a statement, the company said free email is the last of its portal-like
services to be discontinued. AltaVista, which is majority owned by CMGI Inc.,
embarked on an ambitious effort at the end of 1999 to transform itself into an
Internet portal like Yahoo! Inc. and offer a broad range of consumer services.
When those efforts failed, it redoubled its focus on the core search business.
Today Altavista, based in Palo Alto, California, operates an Internet search
engine and licenses search software to companies.
It said about 400,000 US Internet users have free email accounts on
AltaVista, although only about half of those are used regularly. The service
will be discontinued on March 31.