"Lycos Jumps on 'Pay for Inclusion' Bandwagon"

Seems as if all of the major search engines these
days have instituted a policy of pay for inclusion,
and it appears Lycos is no exception. In a few
weeks they'll be launching their own paid inclusion
program. Lycos boasts big numbers, claiming over 40
million users; making them a competitive player
in the search engine games.

The exact launch date has not been announced, but you
can sign up to be notified by email when it is and also
receive special introductory submission pricing.

Lycos will be offering two levels of service:

1) Lycos InSite Select: This guarantees your site's
inclusion within 48 hours of submission along with a
full refresh of your site every 48 hours. They'll
also send you a "personalized site submission report"
so you can see what has been indexed and when. It also
includes access to "Search Services Central" which allows
you to review your billing, make any changes or contact
their support department. As an added bonus they give
you a free subscription to their ezine, featuring tips
and information on how to maximize your website
traffic.

2) Lycos InSite Pro: This service includes all of the
features of the "InSite Select" service plus the benefit
of a remotely hosted search function for your website.
They give you the code to add to your site so your
guests can search your site quickly and find what they're
looking for. The site search results page can be customized
to match your site's colors and you can even add your own
logo.

Pricing for both of the new services has not been disclosed
yet. For those of you who are counting your pennies, have
no fear, as they're still allowing free submissions which
is now being called "Lycos InSite Lite." Inclusion takes 4
to 6 weeks and there's no guarantee you'll be listed at all.
Go to http://home.lycos.com/addasite.html to submit your site.

Seeing so many of the search engines charging for submissions
makes me yearn for the good old days when submissions were
free. There are only a handful of engines and directories
left that you can still submit to without a fee. I guess
nothing good ever lasts forever, especially when it comes
to the search engines and the Net.

For more on Lycos's new services, or to sign up to be
notified when they go live with it, go to

http://search.lycos.com/searchservices/