The issue of the paper is how to characterize public e-services mediated through the web. One common kind of characterization is made through stage models (e-ladders). Such models are frequently used for policy-planning, evaluation and bench-marking of public e-services. E-ladder models have been criticized and as an alternative the e-diamond model has been formulated, which consists of twelve categories in three polarities (informative vs performative; general vs individualized; separate vs coordinated). The differences between e-ladder and e-diamond models are described in the paper. Empirical investigations of some public e-services based on the e-diamond model are pursued. A theoretical analysis of the e- diamond model based on the language-action perspective is performed. This follows the view that public e-services are seen as government - citizen communication. The empirical and theoretical investigations give further support to the e-diamond model.