Excite (web portal)
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Internet |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Founder | Graham Spencer, Joe Kraus, Mark VanHaren, Ryan McIntyre, Ben Lutch, Martin Reinfried |
| Headquarters | United States |
| Products | Web portal, metasearch engine, news, weather updates, ticket sales platform |
| Parent | IAC |
Excite is a U.S.-based website managed by IAC, providing outsourced internet content that includes a metasearch engine alongside weather updates and news featured on its homepage. The platform’s functions are overseen by third-party services.
In its earlier years, Excite offered a customizable homepage known as My Excite and maintained a webmail service called Excite Mail, which was discontinued on August 31, 2021.
Established in 1994, Excite went public two years later. During the late 1990s, it ranked among the leading internet portals, securing the sixth position in visitor traffic in 1997. Following its merger with broadband provider @Home Network, the combined entity filed for bankruptcy in 2001. Subsequently, Excite’s portal and related services were purchased by iWon and later by Ask Jeeves, though the brand experienced a substantial loss of market presence afterward.
History
Excite originated as Architext in June 1993 in Cupertino, California, founded by Stanford University students Graham Spencer, Joe Kraus, Mark VanHaren, Ryan McIntyre, Ben Lutch, and Martin Reinfried. Their objective was to create software capable of organizing web information. Early financial backing included $80,000 from International Data Group in 1994 and an additional $3 million from venture capitalists Vinod Khosla (Kleiner Perkins) and Geoff Yang (Institutional Venture Partners). The official launch of Excite occurred in October 1995.
George Bell assumed the role of CEO in January 1996. Under his leadership, Excite acquired search engines such as Magellan and WebCrawler and secured exclusive distribution agreements with Netscape, Microsoft, and Apple. Initially, the content strategy emphasized editorial reviews led by Jim Bellows; however, this approach was discontinued by 1998 as users preferred direct access to content. The website’s visual identity transitioned from an orange color scheme to black-and-yellow by 1997.
Excite's initial public offering took place on April 4, 1996, with two million shares issued concurrently with competitor Yahoo!'s IPO. The six original founders became millionaires following this event. In November 1996, AOL acquired a 20% ownership stake in exchange for naming Excite as its exclusive search provider and purchasing WebCrawler. By mid-1997, Intuit had invested 19% in Excite and entered into a seven-year partnership; additionally, Excite acquired Netbot to expand into comparison shopping and collaborated with Ticketmaster to offer online ticket sales.
Despite rapid expansion, Excite reported a net loss of $30.2 million in the first quarter of 1998 while holding limited cash reserves. Its portal aggregated content from over one hundred sources and was among the first to provide free email services ahead of competitors like Yahoo! and Lycos.
By late 1997, monthly unique visitors to Excite reached roughly 11.8 million, with revenue primarily generated through advertising tied to site traffic volume.
In December 1998, Yahoo! entered negotiations to purchase Excite for between $5.5 billion and $6 billion but was ultimately outbid when @Home Network acquired Excite in January 1999. At that time, Excite ranked as the sixth largest internet portal based on traffic metrics. Microsoft also showed interest in acquiring Excite to integrate it within MSN.
A significant missed opportunity occurred when Google’s founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page offered their search engine technology to Excite for $1 million in early 1997. After negotiations reduced the price to $750,000, CEO George Bell declined the offer. Bell later cited his unwillingness to replace Excite’s existing search technology with Google's as the reason for rejecting the deal.
Excite@Home
The 1999 merger between Excite and @Home Network, valued at $6.7 billion, stood as one of the largest consolidations in the Internet industry at that time. This union combined @Home's broadband Internet access with Excite’s search engine and portal services, forming a new entity called "Excite@Home" (ticker symbol ATHM), which sought to deliver customized online content. Within six months of the merger, Tom Jermoluk stepped down as CEO, with George Bell assuming the role while Jermoluk stayed on as chairman. The merger was marketed as a pioneering "new media network for the 21st century."
Following the merger, Excite acquired several companies, including iMall, Blue Mountain Arts (an online greeting card provider), and Webshots, a photo-sharing platform. Additionally, the company sponsored Infiniti IndyCar driver Eddie Cheever Jr. during the 2000–2001 seasons. Despite these initiatives, the merger failed to meet expectations; while cable ISP revenues increased, online advertising income dramatically declined. By September 2000, after experiencing a 90% drop in stock price, Bell announced his intention to leave. Patti S. Hart, formerly CEO of Telocity, was appointed CEO in April 2001 as Bell fully resigned. The company reported a first-quarter net loss of $61.6 million compared to $4.6 million in the same period the previous year.
In May 2001, Excite discontinued its Magellan search engine. The following month, Excite@Home secured $100 million in funding from Promethean Capital Management and Angelo Gordon & Co., with repayment terms linked to NASDAQ delisting conditions. After replacing its auditors with PricewaterhouseCoopers in August, creditors demanded immediate repayment of $50 million in debt. Meanwhile, Cox Communications and Comcast revealed intentions to terminate their partnership by early 2002.
In September 2001, Blue Mountain Arts was sold to American Greetings for less than 5% of its original acquisition cost. On October 1, 2001, Excite@Home filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and initiated workforce reductions. Subsequently, @Home's fiber-optic network was sold back to AT&T Corporation. The reorganized entity, known as @Home Liquidating Trust, oversaw asset liquidation.
By the end of 2001, Webshots’ founders repurchased their company’s assets for $2.4 million through bankruptcy court proceedings. Despite the financial turmoil, Excite’s network continued to attract substantial U.S. web traffic, ranking just behind AOL Time Warner, Microsoft, and Yahoo! in volume.
Excite Network
Amidst the downfall of Excite@Home, iWon—a company based in Irvington, New York—initiated efforts to redesign a new Excite website and aimed to acquire the Excite.com domain along with its brand through bankruptcy court auctions. Collaborating with Seattle-based InfoSpace, iWon submitted a bid for both assets. On November 28, 2001, the court approved their offer, granting iWon fewer than three weeks to launch a revamped Excite portal. Bill Daugherty, iWon's founder and co-CEO, likened obtaining Excite to securing "beachfront property" after weathering a severe storm.
The new Excite portal was launched on December 16, 2001, successfully migrating millions of users to the platform. The company rebranded itself as Excite Network, managing multiple portals including Excite, iWon, and MyWay. Internationally, Excite Italia operated portals across several countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, and Austria. For web search functionality on Excite portals, InfoSpace utilized results from Overture and Inktomi instead of relying on Excite’s original search database—a strategy that ultimately proved shortsighted as search engines became a dominant sector within the Internet industry.
Acquisition by Ask Jeeves
In March 2004, Ask Jeeves (currently known as Ask.com) completed the purchase of the Excite Network. Although there were assurances to rejuvenate both iWon and Excite, Ask Jeeves faced significant challenges competing against Google and Yahoo!. Additionally, its March 2005 merger with Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp added complexity. CEO Steve Berkowitz expected that investments in personnel and portal enhancements would drive revenue growth.
On May 20, 2005, Ask Jeeves revealed its acquisition of Excite Italia B.V. from Tiscali S.p.A., alongside reaching an agreement with InfoSpace to jointly manage marketing expenses and share income generated from Excite’s U.S. web search service. Berkowitz emphasized the shared objectives aimed at improving the search experience. In October 2007, the European division of Excite was acquired by media firm GOADV.
Although Excite has not reclaimed its previous market prominence, it continues to hold greater significance in Japan. Excite Japan, established in Tokyo in 1997 through a partnership with Itochu, became predominantly owned (90%) by Itochu following the collapse of Excite@Home.
Excite terminated its webmail service on August 31, 2021; users were given the option to transition to paid BlueTie Home e-mail accounts to preserve their messages and contacts.
FreeLane by Excite
To rival ISPs such as NetZero and Juno Online that provided free or low-cost dial-up Internet access, Excite introduced FreeLane by Excite in collaboration with 1stUp.com. This "no-cost" service allowed users to connect online after installing software that displayed rotating sponsored banner advertisements. Following the shutdown of 1stUp.com, Excite partnered with WorldShare and rebranded the offering as FreeLane 2.0. The FreeLane service was ultimately discontinued on March 1, 2001.
Ticketsmate
Excite operates a ticket sales platform for the U.S. market in partnership with Ticketsmate. Utilizing Excite’s search engine technology, the platform enables users to explore and purchase tickets for numerous events and venues, enhancing the browsing experience through sophisticated search functions.
Excite Education (HigherEdu.com)
Excite’s educational portal, initially launched as Excite Education and now operating under HigherEdu.com, serves as a resource for searching and applying to degree programs and online courses. While it once featured a broad directory of U.S. educational institutions, the portal’s coverage has diminished over time, reflecting Excite’s overall reduced market influence.