New technologies that enable surfing the web visually rather than textually, then link directly to transactions, are the next "secret weapon" for eCommerce. Detailed analysis of the four Visual Search Engines (AltaVista, ditto.com, Lycos and Scour.net) including: History and management; Positioning; Audience demographics; Audience growth to date and projections; Policies on copyright and adult material; Underlying technology; Business model and revenue flows, Indexed image base status and projections; User interface and performance. Color, 53 pages, 42 charts and screens.

PART 1: Introduction
1.1 About the Authors 
1.2 Executive Summary 
1.3 Definitions and Methodology  
1.4 Why Visual Search Engines?
1.4.1 The Problem
1.4.2 The Solution: Image to Information
1.4.3 VSE’s: Key to E-Commerce Development
1.4.4 The Visual Search Engine Sector
PART 2: AltaVista 
2.1 History and Management 
2.2 Positioning and Audiences  
2.3 Policies
Copyright
Adult Material
2.4 Technology 
2.5 Business Model
Advertising
Revenue Sharing
Technology Licensing
2.6 Image Base   16
2.7 UI and Performance
Search Interface
Search Returns
Relevance
Performance
Filtering
PART 3: ditto.com
3.1 History and Management 
3.2 Positioning and Audiences  
Quality of Returns
Ease of Use
Family Friendly
3.3 Policies 
3.4 Technology  
3.5 Business Model
Advertising
Revenue Sharing
Licensing
3.6 Image Base 
3.7 UI and Performance 
Search Interface
Search Returns
Relevance
Performance
Filtering
PART 4: Scour.net
4.1 History and Management 
4.2 Positioning and Audiences  
Audience
Positioning
Demographics
4.3 Policies
Copyright
Adult Material
4.4 Technology 
4.5 Business Model
Advertising
Revenue Sharing
Licensing
4.6 Image Base  
4.7 UI and Performance
Search Interface
Search Returns
Relevance
Performance
Filtering
PART 5: Lycos
5.1 History and Management 
5.2 Technology  
5.3 Positioning and Audiences 
5.4 Policies  .
Copyright
Adult Material
5.5 Business Model
Advertising
Revenue Sharing
Technology Licensing
5.6 Image Base  
5.7 UI and Performance 
Search Interface
Search Returns
Relevance
Performance
Filtering
PART 6: Outlook
6.1 Competitive Strategies and Differentiation 
6.2 Opportunities and Issues for Marketers
and Visual Content Owners
6.2.1 Image Content Sales
6.2.2 E-Commerce
6.2.3 Online Auctions
6.2.4 Web Photo-Sharing, Personal Web Sites
6.2.5 VSE’s and the Interpretation of Copyright Law
6.3 Conclusions
PART 7: Appendices 
7.1 Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation
7.2 Image Search Quantitative Tests 

Table of Charts
Chart 1: Growth of "Dollar Images" on the Web,2000-2003 (Courtesy PictureWorks Corp.)
Chart 2: Individual Users/Month - AltaVista, ditto.com, and Scour.net Combined (Lycos figures not yet available)
Chart 3: General growth in search engine usage January–November 1999 (courtesy Media Metrix)
Chart 4: Images Indexed - AltaVista, ditto.com,  and Scour.net Combined
Chart 5: Types of Searches on AltaVista, by  Media Type as of 10/30/99
Chart 6: Number of IAVS Users per Month and Projections
Chart 7: IAVS Demographics as of 9/99
Chart 8: How did you learn about Corbis? (Courtesy Corbis Corp.)
Chart 9: Image Base Indexed by AltaVista
Chart 10: Average Times for Basic Operations on IAVS, in Seconds
Chart 11: ditto.com Demographics as of 9/99
Chart 12: ditto.com Number of Users per Month and Projections
Chart 13: Image Base indexed by ditto.com 
Chart 14: Average times for Basic Operations on ditto.com in seconds
Chart 15: Scour.net Number of Users per Month and Projections
Chart 16: Scour.net Demographics as of 9/99
Chart 17: Image Base Indexed by Scour.net
Chart 18: Average Times for Basic Operations on Scour,  in Seconds
Chart 19: Types of Searches on Lycos by Media Type as of 1-1-00
Chart 20: Image Base Indexed by Lycos
Chart 21: Average Times for Basic Operations of Lycos 
RichMedia Search in Seconds
Chart 22: Image Search Quantitative Test January 1999
Chart 23: Image Search Quantitative Test January 2000 

Table of Screens
Screen 1: Text search screen
Screen 2: Visual search screen 
Screen 3: AltaVista home page 
Screen 4: AltaVista’s Image Audio Video Search (IAVS) page
Screen 5: AltaVista IAVS search returns .
Screen 6: AltaVista Detailed View 
Screen 7: ditto prototype visual merchandising 
home and return pages
Screen 8: ditto home page
Screen 9: ditton results page 
Screen 10: ditto details page  
Screen 11: Scour.net home page  
Screen 12: Scour search return page — low bandwidth 
Screen 13: Scour search return page — high bandwidth 
Screen 14: Lycos stand-alone preview 
Screen 15: Lycos home page 
Screen 16: Lycos rich media search page 
Screen 17: Lycos rich media results page
Screen 18: Boo.com multi-image web site 
Screen 19: Caterpillar site 
Screen 20: Online auction sites