• by Paul Gough , October 30, 2003

Gator Corp., a name that still carries a certain degree of infamy in some online marketing circles, today will change its name to Claria Corp., MediaDailyNews has learned.

The company, which in the five years since its founding has grown into a leader in ad-supported software and what is known as online behavioral marketing, provides ads that are targeted to consumers based on behavioral research. It's also become a lightning rod for controversy in the online industry, having been sued over its pop up advertising and suing to distinguish its permission-based marketing from the kind practiced by spyware that creeps into computer systems and displays pop ups and tracks where an Internet goes on the Web. A lawsuit involving major Web publishers was settled earlier this year.

While the identity change had been planned for some time, it took a longer than expected, because it is tied into a broader repositioning strategy that will emphasize the company's expansion into new areas beyond Gator's so-called eWallet technology, an application that remembers login IDs and passwords for users without having to keep typing them. The eWallet will still have the Gator name.

"Gator won't go away. We love the name and the logo behind the wallet," Scott Eagle, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Claria tells MediaDailyNews.

That's just one part of the business, which has evolved into online behavioral marketing. Claria now has more than 900 online advertisers and 38 million subscribers to the company's ad-supported software, which not only includes the eWallet but other applications as well. The company has three business units, including GAIN Publishing, the GAIN Network and Feedback Research, which provides online research and analytics through an online marketing research panel.

Eagle acknowledges that the name "Gator" has some baggage to it but said that it's not the reason for the name change. Claria, with its image of clarity and focus, better represents the business today.

"The consumer relationship with 38 million people is not with Gator anyway, it's with GAIN. That does not change with this name change," Eagle said. He pointed out that changing the name won't make a difference to the pending lawsuits, or to consumers or the clients.

"The model isn't changing. Just the company name," he said.