Internet stocks were falling in mid-day trading despite a number of analyst upgrades pushing certain issues higher.

At 12:15 p.m. Eastern, internet.com's Internet Stock Index was down 23.38, or 2.52 percent, to 902.80, the Nasdaq Composite had fallen 107.09 to 4311.46, and the Dow Jones industrial average was up 43.43 to 10563.27.

VarsityBooks.com (VSTY) priced 4 million shares at $10 per share with lead underwriter Robertson Stephens. Shares were up slightly, +9/16 to 10-9/16.

US Interactive (USIT) was up 5 to 49-15/16 after DB Alex. Brown upgraded the stock from "buy" to "strong buy."

Network Solutions (NSOL) had lost 15-5/16 to 291-1/4 . Morgan Stanley Dean Witter initiated coverage with "outperform" and $340 price target.

GoTo.com (GOTO) was up 5-3/8 to 97-3/8 after DLJ analyst, Jamie Kiggen reiterated the search engine a "buy" and raised his price target from $100 to $160.

Ask Jeeves (ASKJ) announced plans to acquire The Evergreen Project, a provider of Web-based educational products, for roughly $3.9 million in cash and stock. Shares were slipping 2-1/2 to 81-3/8.