Internet portal site Lycos says it will offer referral fees to other websites that bring surfers to its sites. The move is a bid to boost user numbers and advertising revenues, according to Bloomberg News.
Bloomberg says the idea means so-called Web affiliate sites can choose to link to one of several services like online TV listings, sports scores, or Lycos's HotBot search directory. When a surfer on a linked site hops to Lycos, the affiliate will get 2 cents when an affiliate user links to HotBot and 3 cents for links to other services.
The plan is similar to one offered by Internet bookseller Amazon.com, which offers other sites a free link to its online store and a percentage of any sales generated through the link. Lycos has been trying to boost its traffic to get more ad dollars and compete more strongly with Yahoo!, now the top portal/search site.
