Ever wonder just where YOUR web site ranks on the major Internet search engines? Well, drop by http://www.rankthis.com. It's a free on-line service that determines your ranking on different keyword sets in 8 of the major search engines. In addition to telling you if your site is among the top 200 results, it also lists sites that are in the top 10 based on that same search (helps unearth the competition). There's also a discussion group about improving your rankings, and a guide.

And while we're talking about search engines, ever wonder how to get your site listed? In some cases, it's as easy as asking. That's right. Go to a search engine like www.yahoo.com. Go to the bottom of page, and click on the text that says, "How to Include Your Site." Follow the instructions, and in a couple of weeks or so, you too can be listed on Yahoo. It's just as easy on many of the other search engines (I'll admit it's not easy picking out which of over 4,000 categories you should place in, though). There are, of course, many services offering to do the work for you, for a fee (just watch all the ads pop up while you're doing it yourself!). If you use any of them, write to me about your satisfaction.

Hilton Hotels has been testing a system in some of its properties whereby users can swipe a credit card through their "Inphone" system to purchase time on the Internet. Great way to pass the time waiting in the lobby for your transfer to the airport!

Well, it's another "casualty" of the Bill Gates wars. Microsoft Corp. and WebTV Networks Inc. are now one. Microsoft completed their acquisition of WebTV for approximately $425 million in cash and stock. Guess he IS out to take over the information world.

According to Interactive Services Report (ISR), at the end of June, 1997, there were over 14 million Internet customers. Here're the top five (figures rounded):

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