Vignette Technology to power NEWS.COM, CNET's newest Web site: Breakthrough site uses "PRISM" to...

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 3, 1996--Vignette Corp. Tuesday announced it has provided the key software technology to power CNET's newest Web site, NEWS.COM (www.news.com), which will debut Wednesday using Vignette's proven content production system.

CNET used Vignette's technology

The product, code named "PRISM," provides CNET with the best price/performance Web sites in the industry, resulting in faster browsing experiences, longer average session lengths, and increased advertising revenue at a fraction of the investment typically required for sites delivering millions of hits a day.

NEWS.COM is the first online service devoted entirely to technology, with 24-hour-a-day coverage created exclusively for the World Wide Web. NEWS.COM will provide approximately 30 new stories daily including up-to-the-minute reports on developments in computing and technology as well as in-depth analysis of industry issues, live event coverage and exclusive interviews with industry newsmakers.

PRISM will enable hundreds of thousands of daily site visitors to take advantage of cutting-edge audio and video and a database of 3,000 unique news stories.

Until now, publishers have been forced to build complex Web sites with static HTML pages or legions of programmers using database tools to generate content dynamically. Neither provide the production scalability required to deliver the third generation Web sites that are needed to compete in 1997 and beyond.

HTML pages are time consuming to create and maintain, and large programming staffs are costly. With PRISM, commercial content providers will be able to produce "intelligent" sites containing content that changes throughout the site each time new information is provided by writers, or by the interactive participation of users.

Halsey Minor, chairman and chief executive officer of CNET said: "PRISM provides NEWS.COM with distinct competitive and economic advantages, and at the same time delivers our users one of the most compelling, fastest experiences on the Web." Minor continued, "Our editors can focus on creating great content and let PRISM build the Web site."

The PRISM server-based content production system allows large group authoring of highly interactive and personalized Web site content. This group publishing model facilitates the integration of writers, designers, producers and engineers within a single content production framework, eliminating today's fragmented approach to Web site development.