Content-delivery services are pretty straightforward to implement. Using a software package from the provider, a Webmaster takes a document and tags it for distribution on the provider's network, which usually involves changing the subdirectory of the document's URL. Content owners, often working in conjunction with the service provider, must decide on the mix of content they will distribute, or hand off, to the service provider.

Static content is material that's unlikely to change frequently, isn't personalized like an online stock portfolio might be, and will likely be requested by other Web users in the same geographic area. Embedded, or "dynamic," elements on a Web page include animation ad banners, Java applets, and images. This sort of content can account for as much as 70% of total page content; getting it off the site owner's server improves performance for the content owner and the content requester. To minimize the effect on network performance, dynamic content is what's most frequently cached at the edge to avoid router hops and adding to Internet congestion. To update that content, the content owner simply puts new tags on the content that permit it to be recognized and used by the content-delivery provider.

"You might be pushing down as many as eight or 10 graphic images to the end user. Content-delivery service providers are tailored to do that kind of heavy lifting," says Alex Benik, an analyst at the Yankee Group. "And what these customers are looking for is some sort of performance gain."

That's exactly what WSJ.com, the online version of The Wall Street Journal, got. "We were pleased with the performance--we're a news site and we have to update constantly and infallibly," says Ken Ficara, director of development for WSJ.com. After advertising the site in its print version, WSJ.com's traffic on Super Bowl Sunday swelled to more than 4 million hits, more than double its normal daily average, using Digital Island's network. "It's a fast and easy way to build another data center. It doesn't make sense to buy something you may not use 80% of the time," Ficara says.

Revenue from content-delivery services is projected to reach $50 million this year, but is poised to grow to more than $2 billion by 2003, according to market research firms. But cash-rich players are beginning to see the wisdom of having content delivery in their service or hardware portfolios. Exodus got into the market recently, acquiring Sandpiper in October for $621 million; Cisco Systems bought a 4% stake in Akamai in August. More consolidation is expected, particularly as major Internet backbone providers see the revenue potential or want more than just a comarketing agreement with one of the content-delivery companies.

Content-delivery services aren't just for high-end business-to-consumer or business-to-business sites. Joe Dunnigan, president of Bigdeal.com in Phoenix, sells snow-, surf-, and wakeboards, and last year raked in $1 million in online revenue. He counts more than 1.5 million page views per month and says his typical sale to male buyers between 12 and 22 is $104.

Dunnigan signed up with Adero a few months ago, and while he won't divulge what he pays the provider every month, he says the performance and marketing gains more than make up for the fee. He says the average end-to-end time for a transaction on Bigdeal.com without Adero is 11.47 seconds; by adding Adero, that time is cut to 4 seconds. "I was surprised at how, when the load increases, Adero overdelivers in terms of speed," Dunnigan says. "We are actually faster during peak load times than we are at off-peak times."

Dunnigan sees content-delivery services as a way to gain international customers. Bigdeal.com is replicated in Japanese; Spanish and German versions are on the way. "We have some high-ticket items--snowboards and bindings of more than $1,000--so anything you can do to ease their purchase, so much the better," he says.

Dunnigan says his company has never advertised overseas, preferring to let the Web, word of mouth, and now content delivery do the marketing work. By using information in the IP address, content-delivery algorithms can identify the geographical origin of the request and serve up content and advertising in that country's language. "We can tell if it's a French user and what his browser preferences are, and tailor the content with respect to the market where they're being served--what they're legally permitted to see and purchase in that space," says Adero's chief technical officer, Joe Bai.

Speed, intelligence, and ever more widely distributed server networks could open the door to applications that were impractical across the wide area, according to Benik at the Yankee Group. He points to services such as streaming audio or video, pay-per-view events, or full-blown E-commerce packages limited by bandwidth or by their own congestion-inducing nature. However, Benik adds, the services are no good to ISPs or business customers if the users' experience isn't significantly enhanced.

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Photo of Dunnigan by Reed S. Rahn