"We set out to sell about 510 sq metres of commercial area and have sold out 435 already" states Maloo. The fair hopes to draw huge crowds especially people who are not regulars on the Net. "Clearly this is not for regular net surfers, they already know what each of their favourite sites has to offer.

It is to introduce people to the concept of the Net itself," says Maloo. The Web Mela will feature sites ranging from India specific horizontals like IndiaInfo.com and 123India.com to youth sites like MyKindaSite, online equity trading sites like ShareKhan.com and auction sites like Baazee.com. "The sites will have to zero in on their most attractive features and make sure that they drive the point home with the audience," says Maloo in response to the observation by some dot.com promoters that an uncontrolled flow of visitors will reduce their chances of making an impact on relevant consumers. "I don't see a major value-add here except that my URL will be up but then again how many people will register this in the clutter?" asks one dot.com company CEO.

"The key advantage to the exhibitors is the fact that they can reach an audience they haven't reached yet at all," says Maloo. "In fact, they should ensure that they communicate what the site has to offer to people who haven't visited the site at all and try not to focus on regulars," he adds.