The identity of the company behind the campaign in New York City that has seen the phrase Hello, is anybody out there? sprayed on the sidewalks and posters plastered on lamp-posts has become clear. It’s a cryptic message from the MiningCo.com to advertising its equally cryptic name change to About.com, which it announced yesterday.
The New York-based company, which offers a set of web-based guides has changed its name to tell the world that’s it’s not merely a navigation service, but one reflecting a broad range of subjects (there are 650 guides in all splits across 18 channels). It also wants to build an online community. It did the usual round of focus groups of both users and non-users to come up with the new moniker. It has also started a membership drive to build a community in the shape of GeoCities, Tripod and the others. The company is hoping that members will establish an AboutMe page displaying their interests and communicate with like-minded members, while staying with the network of About.com sites.
MiningCo confirmed that it had to pay for the About.com domain name, but would not divulge how much it paid. However, sources have indicated that it was around $100,000. It is still registered to Jerrold B. Spiegel, a lawyer in the new media practice at Frankfurt, Garbus, Klein & Selz. The company says it has registered hundreds of names with about in them through third parties.
