Portals moving to the next level

As portal heavyweights increasingly forge partnerships aimed at boosting their offerings and increasing loyalty, the landscape for destination sites seems poised for a shakeout. And now high-speed access emerges as the latest holy grail, prompting Yahoo, AOL, and Excite to reassess their strategies.

Will broadband determine Yahoo's future? The portal giant's president discusses whether the pressure is on for Yahoo to cozy up to a high-speed access provider. Excite earnings in line with expectations The No. 2 Internet directory and search service meets analysts' expectations, buoyed by strong advertising revenue on its Web site. AOL again tops most-visited list Microsoft sites trail AOL by 6 percent, followed by portals Yahoo and Lycos. Lycos looking for partner update Following yesterday's Excite-@Home deal and an active day of trading, Lycos acknowledges it's looking for an investor.