By Ken Magill, 13 November 2006, © 2006 Prism Business Media Inc. All rights reserved.
In what could be viewed as a frightening sign that the dot-com bubble days are back, online pay-to-surf company AllAdvantage is being resurrected as AGLOCO, Direct has learned.
A well-placed source who asked not to be named confirmed the launch of AGLOCO, saying there will be a public announcement of the company's launch either later this week or next week.
Like its Internet heyday predecessor, AGLOGO -- short for A Global Community -- will pay consumers an hourly rate to surf the Web and view ads.
AllAdvantage launched in 1999 with the tagline "Get paid to surf the Web."
In exchange for being paid for their time online, consumers would download a viewbar that would serve them ads based on their behavior.
AllAdvantage's founders reportedly think they will get 30,000 members in the first 90 days. "They had 30,000 signups in the first six hours, and they averaged 30,000 a day for most of a two-year period," said the source.
When AllAdvantage shut down in February 2001, it had around 10 million members to whom it had paid $100 million.
Ultimately, AllAdvantage fell victim to the dot-com crash and its own arithmetic. It was paying out more than it was taking in.
AGLOCO has made some unspecified changes in its business model and the way it will compensate members that executives believe will make the company a success this time, the source said.