Infoseek Says Nix Nix Nix to XXX Ads

Infoseek reportedly is no longer accepting ads for adult sites. The move comes just prior to the launch of the Go Network, a joint venture between Infoseek and Walt Disney.

CNET’s news.com quoted analysts as saying the move is no surprise and likely reflects the influence of Disney’s family-oriented philosophy. Disney took a lot of heat from the Southern Baptists a few years ago for some of its non-family movies and rumors of activities for gay people at a theme park.

Infoseek reportedly will offer with the new portal a suite of tools that lets Go users filter out the Net’s adult sites. An Infoseek spokeswoman was quoted by Reuters as saying the companies would launch a beta version of the new site, go.com, before the end of the year, and plan to take the service live in January.

Disney last summer announced plans to acquire a 43 percent stake in Infoseek.

“I don’t think any company affiliated with Disney will have a relationship with adult-oriented advertisers,” Evan Neufeld, an analyst at Jupiter Communications in New York City, told news.com A telephone call to Infoseek by IAR was not returned.

Market research firm Forrester Research has predicted that the online adult entertainment industry would generate revenues of $185 million in 1998.