June 15, 1998

"Recruit" among few to find way to make money online:
Information Sites On Computer, Jobs Viewed As Models.

In spite of the hype surrounding business on the Internet, few companies are actually attracting much money with their ventures. A survey by Dentsu Inc. found that about 420 companies in Japan were generating revenue from ads on their home pages in 1997, but that more than 90% pulled in less than Y100 million ($694,400).

Recruit Co. belongs to the small group proving that Internet business can be successful if you offer the right service. The company introduced its Keyman's Net in April 1996 as a site providing news to registered members on the personal-computer industry and new PC-related products. As of this past April, the service has some 73,000 subscribers, an increase of around 38,000 in just a year.

Keyman's Net provides information free of charge and does not levy any membership fees.
It earns revenue from companies that want their information read by the service's subscribers. The basic fee for posting information is Y150,000 ($1,080.) In addition, information providers are charged Y150 ($1.08) or less per transmission. The service brought in a total of Y600 million ($4.32 million) in fiscal 1997, which ended March 31. Forecasts call for the figure to hit Y1.1 billion this fiscal year.

One of the biggest attractions of Keyman's Net is its members' profiles.
Around 90% of the members are in charge of corporate PC-related purchases or belong to departments with some influence on such acquisitions. At the site, they can select information from more than 100 fields and check the latest news on a page that can be set up according to personal preference. The advantage for advertisers is that they can target exactly the group of potential customers they are after.

Recruit also uses the personalized system for Recruit navi, and Internet-based job-information service for college students. Members enter their preferences and receive information on suitable companies. The service had 130,000 subscribers as of May and generated revenue of more than Y1 billion in fiscal 1997.

Some industry watchers believe the systems used for Keyman's Net and Recruit navi will serve as models for a wide range of Internet businesses, as they meet the needs of both information providers and consumers.