Go Network

Disney Spins Off Internet Division as Gocom

Look up above in your browser. It used to read d23.disney.go.com. The go.com part has an interesting story. In 1998, after Disney acquired 43% of Infoseek, the popular web search engine, it combined Disney’s existing network with Infoseek and launched the new Go network. The goal of the Go network was to blend both Disney and Infoseek properties to offer a network with, among other things, news, stock quotes, chat rooms, search engines, and e-mail. Much of the content would come from Disney-owned ABC News and ESPN, and Disney would power Go’s entertainment and family-oriented channels with its own branded content. It was on this day in 1999 that Disney shareholders approved a spin-off of the go network into its own company, Go.com. That same day, Infoseek shareholders voted in favor of merging the company with Disney, and the next day Go.com’s shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Although Go.com officially closed in 2001, Disney’s sites, including this one, continue to be hosted on the Go domain.