Monster Founder Launches Site For Boomers

Monster.com founder Jeff Taylor on Monday unveiled his long-anticipated Web portal aimed at baby boomers 50 and over.

Billing itself as "the place where people 50+ go to get things done," Eons.com has ambitions of being more just a MySpace for the senior set. The site is organized around four main content sections designed to help members lead fuller lives: money; health and wellness; love; and fun.

A separate section allows Eons members to create a top 10 list of goals to accomplish before reaching 100. Once the list is assembled, members can interact with others who share their goals through affinity groups and blogs, and obtain expert advice in reaching goals.

Other features geared to its aging audience include a longevity calculator that estimates life expectancy based on a series of questions related to lifestyle, nutrition, medical condition, and family history.

Key early advertisers on Eons banking on the boomer market are Harrah's Entertainment, Hyatt Corp., Humana Inc., Liberty Mutual Group, and Verizon Wireless. Corporate sponsorships are tied to related sections or features on the site. Harrah's, for example, sponsors the games page on Eons.com, and Liberty Mutual sponsors the site's money section.

Eons founder Taylor said in a conference call Monday that corporate advertisers have told the company that the 50-plus audience is the "sweet spot" they're trying to reach. Taylor, who is 45 years old, added that the site will discourage those under 50 from joining by requiring registration for certain parts of the site that includes disclosing age.

The site will offer the full range of standard advertising units for banners and buttons, as well as exclusive sponsorships, targeted contextual ads, and run-of-site opportunities. Eons.com has also developed its own specialized search engine called Cranky, which ranks and rates results with input from its own paid writers and members. Sponsored links appear above and below the four search results listed on each Cranky page.

In its obits section--where Eons has created a database of 77 million records dating back to the 1930s--members can search for obituaries and post tributes to departed loved ones. For a fee, they can design more elaborate memorials that include photos, a memory journal, and unlimited text.

Taylor said that eventually he plans to expand Eons beyond the United States and Canada to Europe and globally.

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