Chapter 6:
Online Auctions, Virtual Communities,
and Web Portals
Summary
 In last lecture, you learned that
– Origins of Auctions
– The kinds of auctions
– Online Auctions and Related Businesses
Key terms
 Auctions 拍卖
 Online Auctions 网上拍卖
 English Auctions 英式拍卖
 An ascending-price auction出价逐升式拍卖
 Dutch Auctions 荷兰式拍卖
 Descending-price auctions 出价逐降式拍卖
 First-Price Sealed-Bid Auctions 密封递价最高价拍卖
 Second-Price Sealed-Bid Auctions 密封递价次高价拍卖
 Open-Outcry Double Auctions 开放出价双重拍卖
 Sealed-Bid Double Auctions 密封递价双重拍卖
 Reverse Seller-Bid Auctions 反向拍卖
Key terms
 General Consumer Auctions 普通消费品拍卖
 Specialty Consumer Auctions 特殊消费品拍卖
 Consumer Reverse Auctions and Group Purchasing Sites 消费者
逆向拍卖和集体购买网站
 Business-to-Business Auctions 企业间的拍卖
 Business-to-Business Reverse Auctions 企业间的逆向拍卖
 Auction-Related Services 拍卖相关服务
Virtual Communities and Web Portals虚
拟社区和门户网站
–
Online auctions and related activities are not the only
new businesses made possible by the Internet, the
Internet reduces transaction costs in value chains and
offers an efficient means of communication to anyone
with an Internet connection. Combining the Internet’s
transaction cost reduction potential with its role as a
facilitator of communication among people, companies
have developed two other new approaches to making
money on the Internet and the Web: virtual communities
and Web portals.
–
网上拍卖及相关服务不是在互联网实现的惟一新业务模式。互联网降低价值
链上的交易成本，同时为互联网上所有人提供有效的沟通方式。企业将互联
网作为沟通工具和减低交易成本的优点，提出了两种网上盈利的新方式：虚
拟社区和门户网站。
Virtual Communities and Web Portals虚
拟社区和门户网站
–
Three key elements are required to make things such as
virtual communities and Web portals: cellular-satellite
(mobile) communications technology, electronic
marketplaces, and software agents. All three of these
elements exist today, but they have yet to be completely
integrated. You will learn about each of these elements in
the following sections.
–
要想让虚拟社区和门户网站这类事情成为现实，需要三个关键
的条件：蜂窝／卫星通信技术、软件代理程序和电子集市。这
三个条件今天都已经具备了，只是还没有结合在一起。下面分
别讲述这些技术。
The contents of the section 2
 MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY移动通





信技术
ELECTRONIC MARKETPLACES电子集市
INTELLIGENT SOFTWARE AGENTS智能软件代理
VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES虚拟社区
WEB COMMUNITY CONSOLIDATION网上社区的合
并
WEB PORTAL REVENUE MODELS门户网站收入模式
1.MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY
移动通信技术
– Cellular-satellit communications technology capable
to the Internet can be packaged with notebook
computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and
mobile phones.
– 连到互联网上所要用的蜂窝／卫星通信技术现在已经有了
，并且可以安装到笔记本电脑、个人数字助理PDA 和移
动电话上。
1.MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY
移动通信技术
–
FIGURE:Web page
displayed on a PDA
The PDA shown in the figure
displays a Web page sent using
the Wireless Application Protocol
(WAP). WAP allows Web pages
formatted in HTML to be
displayed on devices with small
screens, such as PDAs and mobile
phones. 图所示PDA上显示的是通过
无线应用协议( WAP ）发送的网页
。无线应用协议允许超文本链接标
示语言格式的网页在小屏幕的设备
（如个人数字助理和手机）上显示
。
1.MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY
移动通信技术
More and more devices will become Web-enabled. For
example, Garmin has introduced a PDA that includes a Global
Positioning Service (GPS) receiver. The user enters a
destination address and the PDA displays a map. As the user
drives toward the destination, the UPS receiver tracks the
PDA’s current location (using signals from GPS satellites) and
causes the PDA to announce driving directions, such as “turn
right 300 feet ahead.”
– 更多的产品将为网络服务，美国高明公司推出了掌上电脑，其中包括
全球定位服务（ GPS ）接收器。用户输入目的地地址和掌上电脑显
示的地图。随着用户对硬盘的目的地后，接收不间断电源的追踪个人
数字助理的当前位置（使用的信号全球定位服务卫星）和引导的个人
数字助理宣布行车路线，如“向右转300英尺未来。 ”
–
2.ELECTRONIC MARKETPLACES 电子集市
–
As wireless and satellite data transmission technologies
become integrated with marketplaces, these marketplaces can
serve people who want to buy and sell a wide range of
products and services. Firms such as AvantGo already provide
PDAs with downloads of Web site contents, news, restaurant
reviews, and maps. Users can create accounts with AvantGo
that permit AvantGo to send these downloads to their
wireless PDAs, telephones, or other mobile devices
automatically.
–
随着无线技术和卫星通信技术同电子集市的整合，这些电子集市能
够为买卖多种产品或服务的人提供服务。诸如AvantGo 等公司已
提供了能下载页面内容、新闻、餐馆和地图的个人数字助理 。用
户可在AvantGo 开设账户，将这些信息下载到自己的PDA 或其他
手持设备上。
2.ELECTRONIC MARKETPLACES 电子集市
The company earns
revenue by selling
ads that appear
with the
downloaded content.
AvantGo’s home
page appears in
Figure
– 图所示为AvantGo 网
站提供用户订阅自动
下载内容的页面。
–
3.INTELLIGENT SOFTWARE AGENTS
智能软件代理
– Some companies provide Web sites that help users
find products and services for sale on the Web.
These sites use intelligent software agents, which
are programs that search the Web and find items
for sale that meet a buyer’s specifications.
– 有些网站可以帮助用户寻找网上销售的商品与服务。这
些网站使用智能软件代理，这些程序能够在网上检索满
足买家条件的商品。
3.INTELLIGENT SOFTWARE AGENTS
智能软件代理
–
Some software agents are focused on a particular category
of product, such as Best Book Buys, which searches more
than 20 online bookstores for the best prices on books. In
addition to obtaining price information, researchers are
developing other software agents that track ratings of buyer
and seller reputations. In much the same way that eBay
makes reputation reports available to its bidders and sellers
about each other, more general software agents can create
and search databases of all kinds of buy-sell transactions on
the Web.
–
一些软件代理集中于某一类产品，如最佳图书热卖，其中搜索20多个网上书
店的最佳价格的书籍。除了获得价格信息，研究人员正在开发其他软件代理
跟踪评级的买方和卖方的声誉。在大致相同的方式使易趣声誉报告提供给其
彼此的投标者和卖家，更普遍的软件代理可以创建和搜索数据库的各种买进
卖出的交易网络。
4.VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES 虚拟社区
–
A virtual community, also called a Web community or an online
community, is a gathering place for people and businesses that
does not have a physical existence. Virtual communities exist
on the Internet today in various forms, including Usenet newsgroups, chat rooms, and Web sites. These communities offer
people a way to connect with each other and discuss common
issues and interests.
–
虚拟社区也称为网上社区或在线社区，是个人和公司聚集的虚拟场
所。存在互联网上的虚拟社区，包括新闻组，聊天室，和环球网站
点各种形式。这些社区给人们提供一种方式连接彼此，并讨论共同
的问题和利益。
4.VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES 虚拟社区
–
One form of virtual community with which you might be
familiar is the virtual learning community. Many colleges and
universities now offer courses that use distance learning
platforms such as Blackboard or WebCT for studentinstructor interaction. These distance learning platforms
include tools such as bulletin boards, chat rooms, and
drawing boards that allow students to interact with their
instructors and each other.
–
一种形式的虚拟社区是虚拟的学习社区。许多高校目前提供的课
程，使用远程学习平台，如黑板或WebCT为学生提供辅导互动
。这些远程学习平台，包括工具，如公告栏，聊天室。
4.VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES 虚拟社区
– In addition to fulfilling the social interaction
needs of individuals, virtual communities can help
companies, their customers, and their suppliers
plan, collaborate, transact business, and interact
in ways that benefit all of them.
– 除了履行社会交往需要的个人，虚拟社区可以帮助公
司，他们的客户，和他们的供应商计划，合作，交易
，互动的方式，有利于所有的人。
–
Another approach to electronic commerce using virtual
communities is the Google Answers site. Google Answers gives
people a place to ask questions that are then answered by an
expert for a fee.
–
另一种做法是电子商务使用虚拟社区如谷歌解答网站。谷歌解答人们
提供了一个场所提问，然后由收取费用的专家回答。
4.VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES 虚拟社区
– Google administers a test to determine which
members of the community qualify to become
Google Answers Researchers. The questioner sets
the fee and determines whether an answer is
sufficient before authorizing the payment of the
fee.
– 谷歌负责验证哪些社区成员具备成为谷歌的研究人员的
资格。回答的提问设置费，并确定答案是否足够收取授
权支付的费用。
5.EARLY WEB COMMUNITIES早期的网上社区
One of the first Web communities was the WELL. The
WELL, which is an acronym for “whole earth electronic link,”
predates the Web. It began as a series of dialogs among
the authors and readers of the Whole Earth Review in
1985. In 1999, the e-zine publisher Salon.com bought the
WELL and has maintained the sense of community that had
existed there for 14 years.
– 最早的一个网上社区是WELL 。WELL 是 “全球电子互连”各
单词首字母的缩写，它比万维网出现得还早。全球电子互连始于
1985 年，是《 全球评论》的作者和读者之间的一系列论坛。
1999 年，电子杂志出版公司沙龙收购了全球电子互连，并保持
它长达14 年之久的社区感觉。
–
5.EARLY WEB COMMUNITIES早期的网上社区
– Access to the WELL community now requires a $10
per month subscription. A premium subscription that
includes an “@well.com” e-mail address and the
ability to start your own conferences within the
WELL costs $15 per month.
– 现在访问WELL 每月需要缴纳订阅费10 美元，如果想得
到“ @ well . com ”电子邮件地址并且能够召集会议，每
月还要缴纳15美元。
6.WEB PORTAL REVENUE MODELS
门户网站收入模式
–
By the late 1990s, virtual communities were selling
advertising to generate revenue. Search engine sites and
Web directories were also selling advertising to generate
revenue. Beginning In 1998, a wave of purchases and
mergers occurred among these sites. The new sites that
emerged still used an advertising-only revenue generation
model and included all the features offered by virtual
community sites, search engine sites, Web directories, and
other information-providing and entertainment sites.
–
到1990年代末，虚拟社区的销售广告创收。搜索引擎网站和网页目录
也销售广告创收。自1998年开始，浪潮的采购和兼并发生在这些网站
上。新网站的出现仍然使用一个广告创收模式，包括提供的虚拟社区
网站，搜索引擎网站，网页目录及其他信息的提供和娱乐网站。
6.WEB PORTAL REVENUE MODELS
门户网站收入模式
–
Includes:
I. ADVERTISING-SUPPORTED WEB PORTALS
广告支持门户网站
II. MIXED-REVENUE WEB PORTALS
混和模式的门户网站
III. INTERNAL WEB PORTALS
内部门户网站
6.WEB PORTAL REVENUE MODELS
门户网站收入模式
I. ADVERTISING-SUPPORTED WEB PORTALS广告支持
门户网站
–
Some Web observers believe that Web portal sites could be the
great revenue-generating businesses of the future. They argue
that adding portal features to existing sites or converting sites to
portals can be a wise business strategy. They believe that
combining Web communities’ sense of belonging with search engine
and Web directory tools will yield Web sites with high degrees of
stickiness that will be extremely attractive to advertisers.某些环
球网观察家认为，互联网门户网站可以成为伟大的企业的未来。他们认
为，增加门户功能，以现有的网站或转化为门户网站可以是一个明智的
商业策略。他们认为，结合网络社区的归属感与搜索引擎和网站目录工
具将网站产量高程度的粘性，将极具吸引力的广告客户。
6.WEB PORTAL REVENUE MODELS
门户网站收入模式
I. ADVERTISING-SUPPORTED WEB PORTALS广告支持
门户网站
– Because Web portals ask their members to
provide demographic information about
themselves, the potential for targeted marketing
is very high.
– 由于门户网站要求其成员提供人口统计学的信息，这
对瞄准潜力市场是非常有效的。
6.WEB PORTAL REVENUE MODELS
门户网站收入模式
I. ADVERTISING-SUPPORTED WEB PORTALS广告支持
门户网站
– The companies that run Web portals have added
sticky features such as chat rooms, e-mail, and
calendar functions—often by purchasing the
companies that create those features.
– 运营门户网站的公司当然相信门户网站的潜力，他们雄
心勃勃地购买诸如聊天室、电子邮件和日程表等特色功
能，加人到自己的门户网站上，这常常是通过购买开发
出这些功能的公司实现的。
6.WEB PORTAL REVENUE MODELS
门户网站收入模式
I. ADVERTISING-SUPPORTED WEB PORTALS广告支持
门户网站
For example, in addition to buying the virtual community
site Tripod, Lycos purchased the online directory
WhoWhere? for $133 million. In 1999 alone, Yahoo! spent
over $10 billion in cash and stock to expand the range of
services available on its Web portal
– Lycos 网站除了购买虚拟社区网站Tripod 以外，还用1 . 33 亿美
元购买了在线目录WhoWhere ？。光是在1999 年，雅虎！就
花了100 多亿美元的现金和股票来扩大自己门户网站的服务范围
。当然，广告支持的门户网站依赖持续的广告收入。
–
6.WEB PORTAL REVENUE MODELS
门户网站收入模式
II. MIXED-REVENUE WEB PORTALS 混和模式的门户网站
One of the most successful Web portals is Time Varner’s
AOL unit, which has always’ charged a fee to its users
and has always run advertising on its site. Many Web
portals that have struggled with their advertisingsupported revenue models have been moving toward
AOL’s strategy.
– AOL 是最成功的门户网站之一，它一直向用户收费并在网站
上发布广告。许多正在挣扎的门户网站在逐步从广告支持盈利
模式转向AOL 的模式。
–
6.WEB PORTAL REVENUE MODELS
门户网站收入模式
II. MIXED-REVENUE WEB PORTALS 混和模式的门户网站
–
Yahoo! now charges for the Internet phone service that it originally
offered at no cost. It still offers free e-mail accounts, but now sells other
features, such as more space to store messages and attached files, to
members who pay for the “premium” e-mail service. In 2002, Yahoo!
announced a partnership with SBC to sell DSL access, which moved the
company even closer to an AOL- style revenue model. Semel’s strategy
appears to be working. In recent years, Yahoo! has sharply increased its
revenues from nonadvertising sources and is once again reporting
significant profits.雅虎！已开始对原来免费的网上电话收费。它仍然提供免费
电子邮件帐户，但向愿意付费使用高级电子邮件服务的成员提供其他服务，如更
多的空间来存储信息和附加档案，成员支付“溢价”邮件服务。 2002 年，雅
虎！宣布与SBC 公司合作提供DSL 接入服务，进一步转向AOL 的模式。其他广
告支持门户网站也在追随雅虎！的眼球货币化或访问货币化的战略。最近几年，
雅虎大幅度增加了收入来源和nonadvertising再次回报巨大的利润。
6.WEB PORTAL REVENUE MODELS
门户网站收入模式
II. MIXED-REVENUE WEB PORTALS 混和模式的门户网站
–
Other advertising-supported Web portals are following the lead of Yahoo!
in a strategy called monetizing eyeballs or monetizing visitors. Monetizing
refers to the conversion of existing regular site visitors seeking free
information or services into fee-paying subscribers or purchasers of
services. Many of the portals that are conducting these monetizing
campaigns are worried about visitor backlash. They are unsure how many
existing visitors will stay and pay for services they had become
accustomed to receiving at no cost.
–
其他广告支持的网络门户正在追随着这个在所谓货币战略眼球或货币的访客雅
虎！。货币化是指将现有的网站访问者经常寻求免费信息或进入用户付费或购
买的服务。许多在门户网站进行这些货币运动的访客都担心反弹。他们不确定
有多少现有的游客将住宿及已成为他们习惯于接受支付任何费用的服务。
6.WEB PORTAL REVENUE MODELS
门户网站收入模式
II. MIXED-REVENUE WEB PORTALS 混和模式的门户网站
– Recently, more and more industry analysts are
predicting the end of the “free Web.” Although the
largest portal sites should be able to survive using a
mixed revenue model, it is unclear how smaller
portals will fare.
– 现在，越来越多的行业分析家都预测免费网络即将结束
。尽管最大的几家门户网站会通过混和盈利模式生存下
来，但是小门户如何生存还不明确。
6.WEB PORTAL REVENUE MODELS
门户网站收入模式
III. INTERNAL WEB PORTALS内部门户网站
–
A growing number of large organizations have built Web portals
to provide information to their employees. These portals can
save significant amounts of money by replacing the printing and
distribution of paper memos, newsletters, and other
correspondence with a Web site. Organizations use internal Web
portals to publish employee handbooks, newsletters, and
employee benefits information.
–
越来越多的大型组织已经建立门户网站，以提供资讯给他们的员工。
这些门户网站可以节省大量资金，将印刷分发文件的备忘录，通讯，
信件和其他与网站。门户网站内部组织发布使用的员工手册，通讯，
以及员工福利的信息。
6.WEB PORTAL REVENUE MODELS
门户网站收入模式
III. INTERNAL WEB PORTALS内部门户网站
–
These organizations are also finding that the internal portal
Web site can become a good way of creating a virtual community
among employees who are dispersed over a wide geographic area.
For example, a global company could create a question and
answer page (similar to the Google Answers page)for all of its
networking technicians. Such a page would provide mentoring and
informal help functions for the networking technician community
within the company.
–
这些组织还发现，国内门户网站可以成为建立一个虚拟分散在广阔的
地理区域社区员工之间的一个很好的方式。例如，一家全球性公司可
以创建一个对所有的网络技术员提出问题并解答的网页（类似谷歌问
答网页中）。这样一个网页将提供公司内部非正式的社会网络技术员
指导和帮助
6.WEB PORTAL REVENUE MODELS
门户网站收入模式
III. INTERNAL WEB PORTALS内部门户网站
–
Many companies are adding wireless connectivity to their
internal portals and using this technology to extend the reach
of the portal to employees who are traveling, meeting with
customers or suppliers, or telecommuting from home. These
extended portals are yet another example of a second-wave
combination of technology (wireless communications) with a
business strategy from the first wave (internal Web portals).
–
许多公司正在增加无线连接，其内部门户网站利用这一技术扩展到了
门户网站员工的旅游，客户与供应商的会议，或从家里远程办公。这
些扩展的门户网站是从第一次浪潮到第二波相结合的技术（无线通讯
）的又一个例子的经营战略（内部门户网站）
本 章 结
束
谢 谢 ！