Early on in the chapters we learned that a portal is a web site however there is so much more to it then that. Chapter 5 starts with consumer portals which consist of a variety of types of information such as search tools, sports, weather, financial info etc. This variety allows for larger target audiences which allows for portals to gain organizations who want to monopolize on the advertisement and promotional advantages of a portal. Good examples of a consumer portal would be Yahoo!, Lycos and Excite. While initially these sites may have originated s search tools they have developed into general consumer portals.
Another more specific option is personal portals, also known as horizontal portals. The difference between the personal portal and the consumer portal is the ability to customize your preferences. This allows you as an individual to get the most out of these same tools. Again examples would be My Yahoo!, My Excite and My MSN!
Also in the portal family are vertical portals, also known as vortals. Vortals are a gateway for more specific interests either on a broad topic like medicine or a niche topic. The vortal will contain links, search tools and at times chat boards.
The key to any type of portal is maximizing it's capability. This has introduced my to the customability of My Yahoo which allows me to really narrow down what I want to see versus the continuous popular media which normally streams on the general Yahoo page.
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