With the launch today of Snap Online, CNET is trying its best to throw itself in the ring with America Online and hold the virtual hands of Net newbies.
The site will be linked from the front door of some major ISPs, which have non-exclusive arrangements to carry the Snap icon - a smiley-faced exclamation point, along with whatever other content aggregators they like.
This latest entry in the "guide to the Web" category bills itself as not a Yahoo killer, but a potential death blow to AOL and its 11.6 million membership. The company even printed up T-shirts for the launch which read "Hello Snap!...Goodbye AOL."
CNET seems to be giving the new enterprise its all - or at least US$9 million worth of start-up costs, according to analysts' estimates. The first $2.2 million was shoveled into the new enterprise under a shroud of secrecy, which seemed to make Wall Street nervous. The company's stock has recovered nicely since then, though, and closed Friday at $41.13, up from the $15 range in mid-April.
