Last year, NBC combined the Snap.com search engine with several other Web 
sites in hopes of creating a Net powerhouse. But NBCi has suffered a host of 
setbacks. Here's why:

LITTLE COOPERATION WITH THE PARENT COMPANY
NBC has kept the best Web opportunities for itself--and cut out NBCi. For 
example, NBC Sports signed up Quokka.com as its Net partner for the Olympics 
and will strictly limit coverage on NBCi. NBC also started up NBCX.com, an 
entertainment site that has announced plans to compete directly with NBCi.

LACK OF FOCUS
Under former CEO Chris Kitze, NBCi changed strategies often. The company poured 
$90 million into consumer e-commerce last year and ended up with disappointing 
sales. In February, it tried to become a B2B player by paying $250 million for 
an information site for small businesses. Current CEO Will Lansing admits that 
doesn't mesh well with NBCi's mass consumer market.

UNWIELDY CORPORATE STRUCTURE
NBCi merged several sites with little in common--including search engine 
Snap.com and Xoom.com, which allows people to make their own Web pages. The end 
result confused advertisers, visitors, and investors.

NO PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION
NBCi has not developed Net properties with clear advantages over competing 
sites. For example, Snap.com has been unable to draw Web surfers away from 
other portals such as Yahoo!