Late last year, a handful of companies that offered free, in-home Internet service, subsidized by on-screen ads, went belly up. Alta Vista Free Access, 1st Up, MyPoints Connect and countless others realized that there wasn't enough revenue to be made broadcasting ads to the home computer screen.

Public Internet screens, it seems, are a very different matter. Several companies have made the ad-supported, free Internet business work by placing Internet access terminals in high-traffic public spaces such as hotels, shopping malls, airports, theme parks and business campuses.

One of the biggest names in free Internet access terminals is BigFatWow, an Irvine, Texas company that has installed about 113 such terminals. Michelle Eddins, director of marketing communications for the two-year-old firm, recalls how the firm's unusual name came about.

"We wanted something to say that it was fun and entertainment-related, and that also had a little bit to do with advertising," Eddins recalls. "The person who actually came up with the name knew that it was a term used at ad agencies. `Oh, that's a big fat wow' is a way to describe a really desirable client, a really good piece of creative."

The company's core product is the "Wow Center," a colorful kiosk installment of up to 12 Internet terminals with chairs. The browser units sport 17-inch monitors, a T-1 connection and parental block software. The computers themselves are Compaq iPAC models, running Windows 2000.

Situated around and above the Internet units are advertising displays. Up to six 42-inch flat-panel gas plasma displays and six 27-inch monitors running broadcast advertising surround the area.

A customer service representative, who helps people use the units, staffs each Wow Center. Eddins says these representatives also hand out samples, ISP disks and run special promotions.

For instance, in May, a fragrance company will have models at 10 Wow Centers handing out scented strips of a new perfume. "The plasma screens will show a two-hour loop from the fragrance company on two Saturdays, and will run a 30-second commercial four times an hour during the rest of the week," Eddins said.

Acquiring minds want to know

In January of this year, BigFatWow acquired CyberXpo, another firm which provides free Internet access kiosks in shopping malls. The new company retained the BigFatWow name. Financial details of the transaction weren't disclosed.

One problem facing the new endeavor is what to do with existing CyberXpo installations. BigFatWow installations have a distinctive, carefully planned look that is dramatically different from CyberXpo's look. The company has decided to modify the former CyberXpo stations and create a new product line, Eddins said.

"We're modifying [CyberXpo's] cyber centers, and are renaming those Wow Xpress centers," Eddins said. "They're a little smaller than our Wow Centers. Our Wow Centers are more set up for promotions, and the Wow Xpress does not have seating."

Of BigFatWow's 113 installations, 75 are former CyberXpo cyber centers.

Unlike other public Internet kiosk companies, some of which charge a per-minute fee for terminal use, BigFatWow's strategy is to provide its services for free to users, financing the company through advertising revenues.

"We're an ad network - the Internet access is really just a hook," she said. "It's always going to be free, because we need some way to get people here to view our marketing efforts. Our main focus is gaining more advertisers, and getting them to take part in the whole picture. We want them to understand the whole offering, and the ways they can use the center to their benefit."