Whatever you want to call them -- interactive marketing companies, interactive service firms, or that dreaded phrase "Web shops" -- homegrown companies like Agency.Com, Razorfish, THINK New Ideas, Rare Medium, Blue Marble and others have led the revolution in Silicon Alley, by any measure. As a sector they generate more revenue than the content creators. They have higher industry profiles that most other Silicon Alley players. They employ more people. And they seem to have arrived at a sustainable, client service-based revenue model.

It's too bad then that their place in the sun, at least as powerhouse independent businesses, is teetering on the brink.

Just as America Online and AT&T have become the 800-pound gorillas in the consumer provider battle, so the big ad agencies and technology service giants are poised to win the interactive services battle.

This may not seem so obvious at first. To date, the traditional ad firms have struggled in the Internet space. The way ad agencies make money -- taking a percentage of the total volume of cash they spend buying media for clients -- doesn't work on the Internet, so it's been hard for the agencies to adjust. Many old-line agencies have spent years founding, spinning off, and then shutting down interactive divisions in a dysfunctional cycle while others have taken a hothouse approach, seeding various companies and sitting back, waiting to see if they flower.

But survey the landscape today and you'll see just how well positioned the big boys are.

First, the old-line ad agencies that have stuck with their interactive divisions or made smart investments are starting to see their time and money pay off. Locally, the big ad agency holding company Omnicom has significant stakes in Razorfish, Agency.com, and THINK New Ideas. Large holding company True North Communications owns Modem Media.Poppe Tyson. These companies have not only succeeded in building good market positions but they've built tremendous value for their investors as they've gone public or are planning to go public.

And local operations affiliated with the big boys -- from Grey New Technologies to OgilvyOne to Brand Dialogue (a division of Young & Rubicam) -- have continued to thrive and remain among the top tier of interactive firms.

Second, companies owned in whole or part by big ad agencies, direct marketing firms, and consulting firms are slowly but surely grabbing marketshare. Look at AdWeek's list of 1998's Top 50 Interactive Agencies. Half the top 10 firms are wholly-owned by big agencies. There's Grey New Technologies, Euro RSCG Worldwide, OgilvyOne, TMP Worldwide (the directory ad agency that owns TheMonsterBoard), and c2o Interactive Architect -- EDS's interactive arm. Two more of those top 10 -- Agency.Com and THINK New Ideas -- are partially-owned by Omnicom which considerably financed their expansion. A .700 batting average for the big boys ain't bad. And in the second 10, the big boys have the same percentage, mixed between wholly- and partially-owned. Also, keep this in mind: the AdWeek charts don't include the Web-based building work of powerhouses like IBM.

Finally, the trends in the industry favor big companies that have the ability to offer a wide range of services. Once it was enough to be able to offer client brochureware Web design. Then interactive applications were all the rage. But now, the upper tier clients need a company that can consult on Web strategy and conceive of and implement an online marketing and advertising strategy that is tightly integrated with overall brand strategy. They need an agency that can do print, broadcast, outdoor, interactive, and more. Or they need a technology consultant to reengineer their entire network, with their public Web site as the front end. And let's face it, it's easier for Ogilvy & Mather on the agency side or EDS on the consultancy side to add interactive than it is for Agency.Com or iXL to add world class traditional services.

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But as of now, the big boys are in the driver's seat.

* Jason Chervokas is co-editor and publisher of @NY