News Web sites endure overload
Millions turn to e-mail, instant messaging to communicate
By Bambi Francisco, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 3:16 PM ET Sept. 11, 2001
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - Devastating attacks on the U.S. strained and brought down the nation's
leading news Web sites on Tuesday as millions of people logged on to catch the latest updates
hitting the Internet. Moreover, with many phone lines down, e-mail became the alternative
means of communication.
"Overall, news sites were impacted beginning at 9 a.m. EST," said Bill Jones, senior director of public
services at San Mateo, Calif.-based Keynote Systems (KEYN: news, chart, profile), which measures
Web site performance. CNN.com was unavailable between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. EST. and ABCnews.com
was unavailable between 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. EST, Jones said.
"Response time at other major news sites, such as MSNBC.com, typically between 2 1/2 and 3 1/2
seconds, were running between 20 and 40 seconds between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. EST," Jones said.
MSNBC.com, which provides news for MSN.com, saw its traffic numbers jump by ten times. "Nearly
300,000 people are coming to the site at any given moment for news and information," said
MSNBC.com spokesman Peter Dorogoff. "We have engaged additional servers through Akamai and
we've gone to a light site, basically stripping down any intensive graphics and only allowing
barebones-text reporting."
Microsoft's (MSFT: news, chart, profile) consumer portal MSN.com also geared up to ensure that
communication via e-mail would be available.
"MSN has taken steps to add additional servers to handle the increase in traffic and have turned off CPU
intensive features that are not related to communications," said Sara Lefko, MSN lead product manager.
"We want to make sure that everyone that needs to communicate via Hotmail or MSN messenger has
the ability to do so."
Traffic to CBS.MarketWatch.com tripled in the morning. Akamai (AKAM:
news, chart, profile) pumped out almost 5,500 simultaneous video and audio
streams from MarketWatch.com's site before 12 p.m. EST. That is over 382
megabits per second.
Still, the Internet was the gateway for corporate communication. See World
Trade Center explosion.
AMR Corporation updated its site with the latest tragedies. American Airlines
confirmed that it lost two aircraft. See AMR Corp. site. On its Web site, UAL
extended condolences to families onboard United Flight 93 and Flight 175.
Military.com offered news and emergency phone numbers.
Reaching out via e-mail
Moreover, the havoc sent some phone lines down, triggering a flight to e-mail,
instant messaging as millions of people attempted to contact co-workers and
loved ones. Cell phones were not working as well.
"The phone lines are either down or overloaded, so the only communication
possible so far is via email," wrote Greg Kyle, president of Pegasus
Research, based in the World Trade Center. "It's tragic and I have to count my blessings I wasn't yet in
the WTC," he wrote via e-mail.
"My cell phone and phone were down and for a moment, I never felt so far away from everyone. The only
way I could communicate was through instant messenger," said a friend via instant messenger.
Group e-mails were being sent around during the day: "Dear Friends, I am, like you, in deep shock as to
the current attacks occurring in our country. I am writing with great concern for our friends located in
New York."
Responses came via e-mail as well. At the moment, it appears e-mail accounts at Yahoo, Microsoft's
MSN and AOL are accessible.
Market, conferences suspended
Trading on the New York Stock Exchange will be suspended due to the apparent terrorist attacks in
New York and Washington. The market-oriented events scheduled for the day were cancelled.
Many market participants have been sent home.
Banc of America Securities Annual Investment Conference had a considerable amount of cancellations
and said the investment gathering would be suspended for the week.
"There are a lot of people stranded and they can't fly back to their homes, we're feeding them and
providing them lunch, dinner and breakfast and we're establishing an informal community," said a BofA
spokesperson.
AOL Time Warner's proposed bid for AT&T Broadband was expected to be the topic of lunch
conversation Tuesday. AOL Time Warner (AOL: news, chart, profile) Chairman Barry Schuler was
scheduled to deliver the noon keynote speech at the Banc of America Securities conference in San
Francisco. No one expected Schuler to address speculation that the Internet media giant is aggressively
pursuing the expansion of its cable holdings by making an offer for AT&T Broadband.
Still releases continue
One public relations employee regretted that she had to send out an e-mail blast regarding Kodak and
Planetweb. "I'm sorry," she said, after a call was placed to her in response to the announcement via
e-mail.
Yahoo (YHOO: news, chart, profile) issued a release regarding an alliance with Novell. To leverage its
e-tailing expertise and attractive customer base, Amazon.com (AMZN: news, chart, profile) inked a deal
with retailer Target on Tuesday, marking yet another bricks-and-mortar alliance that began with Toys 'R'
Us months ago. Terms of the deal were undisclosed, but the investment community has viewed the
arrangements as incrementally positive steps.
AOL Time Warner issued a released announcing that it had topped 31 million subscribers.
Bambi Francisco is Internet editor of CBS.MarketWatch.com, based in San Francisco.
Millions turn to e-mail, instant messaging to communicate
By Bambi Francisco, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 3:16 PM ET Sept. 11, 2001
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - Devastating attacks on the U.S. strained and brought down the nation's
leading news Web sites on Tuesday as millions of people logged on to catch the latest updates
hitting the Internet. Moreover, with many phone lines down, e-mail became the alternative
means of communication.
"Overall, news sites were impacted beginning at 9 a.m. EST," said Bill Jones, senior director of public
services at San Mateo, Calif.-based Keynote Systems (KEYN: news, chart, profile), which measures
Web site performance. CNN.com was unavailable between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. EST. and ABCnews.com
was unavailable between 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. EST, Jones said.
"Response time at other major news sites, such as MSNBC.com, typically between 2 1/2 and 3 1/2
seconds, were running between 20 and 40 seconds between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. EST," Jones said.
MSNBC.com, which provides news for MSN.com, saw its traffic numbers jump by ten times. "Nearly
300,000 people are coming to the site at any given moment for news and information," said
MSNBC.com spokesman Peter Dorogoff. "We have engaged additional servers through Akamai and
we've gone to a light site, basically stripping down any intensive graphics and only allowing
barebones-text reporting."
Microsoft's (MSFT: news, chart, profile) consumer portal MSN.com also geared up to ensure that
communication via e-mail would be available.
"MSN has taken steps to add additional servers to handle the increase in traffic and have turned off CPU
intensive features that are not related to communications," said Sara Lefko, MSN lead product manager.
"We want to make sure that everyone that needs to communicate via Hotmail or MSN messenger has
the ability to do so."
Traffic to CBS.MarketWatch.com tripled in the morning. Akamai (AKAM:
news, chart, profile) pumped out almost 5,500 simultaneous video and audio
streams from MarketWatch.com's site before 12 p.m. EST. That is over 382
megabits per second.
Still, the Internet was the gateway for corporate communication. See World
Trade Center explosion.
AMR Corporation updated its site with the latest tragedies. American Airlines
confirmed that it lost two aircraft. See AMR Corp. site. On its Web site, UAL
extended condolences to families onboard United Flight 93 and Flight 175.
Military.com offered news and emergency phone numbers.
Reaching out via e-mail
Moreover, the havoc sent some phone lines down, triggering a flight to e-mail,
instant messaging as millions of people attempted to contact co-workers and
loved ones. Cell phones were not working as well.
"The phone lines are either down or overloaded, so the only communication
possible so far is via email," wrote Greg Kyle, president of Pegasus
Research, based in the World Trade Center. "It's tragic and I have to count my blessings I wasn't yet in
the WTC," he wrote via e-mail.
"My cell phone and phone were down and for a moment, I never felt so far away from everyone. The only
way I could communicate was through instant messenger," said a friend via instant messenger.
Group e-mails were being sent around during the day: "Dear Friends, I am, like you, in deep shock as to
the current attacks occurring in our country. I am writing with great concern for our friends located in
New York."
Responses came via e-mail as well. At the moment, it appears e-mail accounts at Yahoo, Microsoft's
MSN and AOL are accessible.
Market, conferences suspended
Trading on the New York Stock Exchange will be suspended due to the apparent terrorist attacks in
New York and Washington. The market-oriented events scheduled for the day were cancelled.
Many market participants have been sent home.
Banc of America Securities Annual Investment Conference had a considerable amount of cancellations
and said the investment gathering would be suspended for the week.
"There are a lot of people stranded and they can't fly back to their homes, we're feeding them and
providing them lunch, dinner and breakfast and we're establishing an informal community," said a BofA
spokesperson.
AOL Time Warner's proposed bid for AT&T Broadband was expected to be the topic of lunch
conversation Tuesday. AOL Time Warner (AOL: news, chart, profile) Chairman Barry Schuler was
scheduled to deliver the noon keynote speech at the Banc of America Securities conference in San
Francisco. No one expected Schuler to address speculation that the Internet media giant is aggressively
pursuing the expansion of its cable holdings by making an offer for AT&T Broadband.
Still releases continue
One public relations employee regretted that she had to send out an e-mail blast regarding Kodak and
Planetweb. "I'm sorry," she said, after a call was placed to her in response to the announcement via
e-mail.
Yahoo (YHOO: news, chart, profile) issued a release regarding an alliance with Novell. To leverage its
e-tailing expertise and attractive customer base, Amazon.com (AMZN: news, chart, profile) inked a deal
with retailer Target on Tuesday, marking yet another bricks-and-mortar alliance that began with Toys 'R'
Us months ago. Terms of the deal were undisclosed, but the investment community has viewed the
arrangements as incrementally positive steps.
AOL Time Warner issued a released announcing that it had topped 31 million subscribers.
Bambi Francisco is Internet editor of CBS.MarketWatch.com, based in San Francisco.
