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Cisco OS Helps Firms Build Social Networks, Target Ads

Cisco Systems has been designing a new kind of operating system it calls Eos--for entertainment operating system-that includes software companies can use to build online communities that cater to people who watch certain television shows or are attracted to certain lifestyles.

The technology, Cisco executives say, will monitor consumers as they interact on the communities with each other and with media, eventually offering recommendations for other content from across the Web. Eos will also target advertising to community members based on their activities. It has convinced two online communities--run by the National Hockey League and auto-racing organization Nascar--to try scaled-down versions of Eos.
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Other companies have a head start in offering competing technology. Rick Sizemore, an industry analyst with Multimedia Intelligence, questions how well Cisco can adjust to the demands of the market it is entering. "They are dealing with a new world of people, content providers, advertisers, media executives," he says.

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