Disney’s Go.com Site Avoids Shutdown

Walt Disney Co. said Monday that it will maintain its Go.com Web portal site indefinitely rather than shut it down as planned. Disney spokeswoman Michelle Bergman said a streamlined version of the site can be operated with no staff and that Disney can earn an undisclosed sum for directing its Go traffic to partners. The company struck a deal Wednesday with Internet search engine Goto.com, which will pay Disney to send traffic its way. Last year, Disney paid Goto.com $21.5 million to settle a legal dispute in which the Pasadena-based Internet firm claimed Disney copied its logo. Just six weeks ago, Disney said it would lay off 400 programmers and pull the plug on Go.com after spending millions of dollars to establish it as a competitor to Yahoo.