Portals in Consumer Search Behavior and Product Customization

A portal is defined as an entrance point to online content. The portal concept has evolved across a number of markets and applications. Customer portals focus on individual customer and offer a one-stop Internet access. By providing a number of services, such as searches, shopping, e-mail, and games, portals allow individuals to avoid browsing the Web but to in-fact rely and stay at one Web site like a one-stop shop. Accordingly, portals drive eyeballs, and hence create and drive advertising revenue and alliances. The concept of a single public port to given content on the Internet is used as a means of pulling in a large number of users. As an example, America Online (AOL) acts as a portal site to general Web content. It is a specialized portal created by AOL and also has content from partners such as Time Warner (Kleindl, 2003). This article reviews the role of portals in consumer search behavior and certain aspects in marketing. PortALs And Product customIsAtIon