The Future of the Web

Two Kinds of Web Agents

• Those that ``pull'' information in (searchers, indexers, explorers)
• Those that ``push'' information out (advertisers)

Roles for Information Pushers

• Proxy agent for user (like Sheffield's Faxes).
• Read newsgroups, seek matches to owner's interests.
• Send email to people working on similar problems (analogous to direct mail campaigns).
• Answer some fraction of the user's incoming e-mail (FAQ).
• Converse directly on-line, such as Julia.