The web communities division of Lycos Inc, Tripod.com, has unveiled a new look and all-new navigation buttons designed to make the site more explicitly commercial and to release more screen real estate for ads. Tripod now has four primary sections: build; explore; interact, for special interest groups called Pods; and buy/sell, which turns community members themselves into buyers or online storekeepers. A special template helps community members build shops in less than ten minutes. As for stocking the shelves, Tripod partners with Cdnow, Barnesandnoble.com and Software Buyline. With the redesign in place, advertisers have more choices for targeted exposure on Tripod. For example $300,000 a year, according to Advertising Age, will purchase an advertiser sponsorship in their own Pod.
