When the term "internet" became a household saying, such did words like Excite, Yahoo, and Lycos. These were the so-called portals that directed Internet first-timers to their destinations and virtually walked them through the World Wide Web. They were and still are the fist place visitors go when they start to "surf" the web. Yet these portals are not just your average search engines, they have a lot more to offer like directories, chat rooms, mail, multimedia, online communities, and customized news. According to Media Metrix and Netrati ....