Highly Targeted Ads Offered at New Talkway Site

Highly targeted advertising opportunities are expected as the result of Sunnyvale, CA-based Talkway Inc.’s launch of its “Supercommunity Service,” allowing mainstream consumers to participate easily in Usenet.

The site uses Talkway 2.0 software to provide easy navigation and access to Usenet’s diverse collection of online communities, using plain English group names, topic directories, keyword searches, collaborative message voting and filtering, and also offering e- commerce opportunities.

Users may access this service through either the Talkway 2.0 client applet in Java or the Decaf beta version in HTML.

“Widespread adoption of Usenet will be a major milestone in the development of the Web as a global information resource,” said Tom Chun, president and CEO of Talkway. “By enabling the Web’s mainstream consumers to participate in rich Usenet communities of people who share similar interests, Talkway will transform the Web from a static, pre-packaged experience into a dynamic, interactive one.”

Rather than viewing a traditional Usenet name such as “misc.invest.stocksalt.3d.sirds,” consumers can choose to view natural- language nomenclature instead–for example, “Stock Investments3D”–for a more understandable and easily navigable Usenet experience. Talkway has also categorized Usenet newsgroups in a topic directory with plain English names in lieu of Usenet’s arcane group names and hierarchy.

Talkway provides keyword search results based on relevant topics and group names–and not on the text content of specific messages Frequent usage patterns of Usenet users provide marketers with both unique psychographic data and with “high aperture” marketing opportunities to build intimate relationships with consumers, the company said. Ad rates were not disclosed.

Talkway said its e-commerce partners include BarnesandNoble.com, Cyberian Outpost, N2K Music Boulevard and E*Loan.