Yahoo exec surveys Web potential

LAS VEGAS - Yahoo Inc. co-founder Jerry Yang sees the Internet as a wide-open frontier, and the fewer fences that go up, the better it will be.<br><br>That freedom has been key to Yahoo's success,

Thursday, April 13th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LAS VEGAS - Yahoo Inc. co-founder Jerry Yang sees the Internet as a wide-open frontier, and the fewer fences that go up, the better it will be.

That freedom has been key to Yahoo's success, Mr. Yang told a standing-room-only crowd Wednesday at the National Association of Broadcasters convention. And as a result, he said, Yahoo can find anything for anyone on the Web.

"Clearly, I think this is where Yahoo plays a role," Mr. Yang said.

Yahoo also has kept its business open to all the devices needed to download the information that the company compiles, he added.

The company is the largest Internet guide in terms of traffic, advertising and household reach. It had 45 million individual visitors in March, according to Media Metrix.

Yahoo also is one of the Web's few profitable sites. Since the company went public in 1996, the stock has split four times and has traded as high as $160 a share. It closed Wednesday at $136.19 per share, up 69 cents.

Mr. Yang said the Net's potential is limitless.

"I think the Internet will transform how media and commerce is delivered," he said. "I think the opportunity for us is to give people content and services they can't get anywhere else."

Some online companies, however, are lobbying for restrictions to protect their databases from competitors. Yahoo says it will work to maintain the Web's free flow of information.

"A chaotic, competitive environment is good for consumers," Mr. Yang said.

Yahoo, based in Santa Clara, Calif., has expanded by snatching up companies such as Dallas-based Broadcast.com and now offers e-mail, broadcasts and commercial transactions.

The company provided 11 million hours of audio and video programming and 1,000 live events in March alone, Mr. Yang said.

As new companies develop content for the Web, Yahoo will distribute across the globe, he said.

"Our success has been largely due to our content providers," said Mr. Yang. "I believe ... there will be so many new ways of accessing content. We can open up a new group of consumers and it's up to us in the industry to compete for those consumers."