11.  Lycos Europe recently moved into the leading slot in Scandinavia when it bought a Swedish portal company, Spray Network.

12.  Merger experts predict that media companies will make alliances this year with the remaining independent portal companies, including Lycos, Excite, Alta Vista and maybe even Yahoo.

13.  Over the summer, Netscape added a search engine and e-mail to its Web site in an effort to compete against so-called Internet portal companies like Yahoo and Excite.

14.  So maybe Apple is an Internet portal company.

15.  Technology investors also took a cue from Lehman Brothers, which raised its rating for the Internet portal company Yahoo to a buy from market perform.

16.  The firm is talking with several unnamed portal companies about licensing its co-navigator technology and is likely to pursue advertising deals on its site, according to Swanson.

17.  Through the spring, as other portal companies grew rapidly, Infoseek flirted with other possible partners, including Netscape.

18.  Yahoo, the leading Web portal company, on Tuesday reaffirmed its plans to remain independent even as it reported another quarter of spectacular growth.

19.  Desmond also worked at Infoseek, an Internet portal company that was acquired by Walt Disney Co. earlier this year.

20.  The so-called metasearch engine is rapidly become a must-have for portal companies as shoppers become more savvy in navigating the Web in search of bargains.