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Juno to Offer Free Internet Access

Popular service puts you on the Net for the price of viewing yet more ads.

By Margret Johnston, IDG News   

Juno, which has about 2.3 million active users, also requires customers to complete a detailed member profile questionnaire to get the free services.

Subscribers who already use the current version of Juno's client software, version 4.0, can take advantage of the new free basic service immediately, Charles Ardai, president and chief executive officer of Juno, said on Monday. Subscribers who aren't using version 4.0 can download a copy for free from Juno's Web site or call the company to request a copy.

Ad Nauseam?

Juno free e-mail subscribers have always had to look at ads while writing or reading their e-mail messages, and that will still be the case. But those who venture onto the Web will now also have to view a banner ad in a special window that will overlay every Web site they visit.

The banner ad will not replace any ads already fixed on the site. It will appear in the Juno Guide, a console-like field similar to the controls of a car radio that is designed to help users find their way, says Rick Eaton, chief financial officer of Juno.

"Free basic-service customers, when they go to the Web, will have a tool to help them navigate and view ads in addition to other Web-based ads," Eaton says. Like current ads that free e-mail subscribers see, the Juno Guide will be movable, but users won't be able to deactivate it.

Ads that appear in the Juno Guide will be targeted to users' preferences, hobbies, and interests, based on a 22-question form they fill out when they sign up for the service. Juno has no plans to change the questionnaire or add to it as part of the free Web service, and current users will not have to fill it out again, Eaton says.

"We already have plenty of data to personalize [the Web] experience," Eaton says. Juno is very concerned about protecting its users privacy, Eaton says. The company shares only high-level statistical data with advertisers, a policy that will continue under the new service, he says.

Big Base Will Help

Though a number of free e-mail services have failed in the past, Juno has attributes that provide insulation from the troubles that have sunk the others, says Steven Harris, research analyst at International Data Corporation.

A large subscriber base, including many users who will go on the Web for the first time through their free e-mail service, is something that advertisers will view favorably, Harris says. It also is relatively inexpensive for Juno to move its free e-mail subscribers to a billable service.

"They have a captive audience and they don't have to do too much marketing to get [their users] to switch," Harris says.