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Wednesday, July 30, 2003
Explosive growth in paid search, increasing almost 50% to $1.6 billion in 2003, will power a modest recovery in online advertising, according to the latest findings from Jupiter Research, a division of Jupitermedia Corporation, presented today at the Jupiter/ClickZ Advertising Forum in New York.
Posted by Reid
1:28 PM
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Monday, July 21, 2003
Great place to get started if you are a small business:
Yahoo adds Web site tools
Yahoo announced the launch of SiteBuilder, free software to enable small business hosting customers to set up Web sites. More than 200 templates are available, specifically designed for businesses such as interior design, real estate and travel. Companies can also design their own site, with the capability of putting images anywhere on their pages, inserting backgrounds and using layer designs.
Posted by Reid
9:46 AM
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Business Week: HP kick starts Web services plan.
The IT and computer products company submits a Web services management specification to a standards body, in a step toward making products from different providers interoperable.
Posted by Kelly Abbott
8:10 AM
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Tuesday, July 15, 2003
eWeek: The Fight Against Spam.
About 10 articles on SPAM. Best tools, politics of, Catching Spammers, and editorials. Proverbially, all you wanted to know about Spam but were afraid to ask.
Posted by Kelly Abbott
1:33 PM
0 comments
Monday, July 14, 2003
WSJ: 'Open Source' Database Poses Threat to Oracle
"Spending the extra money wasn't really justified," Mr. Cotner says. "You have to have complaints before you decide to spend more money on Oracle, and we've been very happy."
Subscription Required
Posted by Kelly Abbott
7:28 PM
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PCMag: California's Two-Fisted Privacy Stance
California has adopted a tough new privacy law, with
practical ramifications that extend far beyond state boundaries. As of July 1, California became the very first state in the US to require businesses and government offices to notify people if any database that lists personal information experiences a breach in security. Last Thursday morning, Adam Rak, manager of government relations for Symantec, a maker of security software, discussed California Senate Bill 1386 (SB 1386), which mandates that companies disclose publicly when customer information stored on their networks has been accessed in any unauthorized manner.
Posted by Kelly Abbott
7:13 PM
0 comments
No big surprise after Yahoo's acquisition of Inktomi, Yahoo! is clearly seeking its independence from Google: Yahoo said it's buying online ad company Overture Services for $1.63 billion in stock and cash.
Posted by Reid
9:27 AM
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Friday, July 11, 2003
At Last, the Web Hits 100 MPH
The spread of broadband may finally allow the Net to reach its full commercial potential -- and change the way people live
Jon Nordmark has been through the e-tail bust, so the CEO of eBags Inc. has learned that the next cool thing is rarely what it seems. Yet he increasingly thinks broadband will be boffo. The evidence: In tests, customers who watch videos about the luggage he sells are 19% more likely to buy than customers who just look at pictures on his site. "We don't go hog-wild on any new idea until we have proven its effectiveness," Nordmark says. "Now we have." < more >
Posted by Reid
5:05 PM
0 comments
Gov. Mark Warner, a Democrat, has told a state tax rewriting commission that a Web sales tax is an idea whose time has come. "The system is not fair when citizens pay tax on purchases in stores but not on purchases through catalogues or over the Internet," he said in a position paper.
Posted by Reid
9:46 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, July 09, 2003
Got this on a CBS Marketwatch notice, thought it was relevant:
WHERE ARE THE POP-UP ADS COMING FROM?
Lately, we have received feedback regarding the number of pop-ups being displayed on CBS MarketWatch. We value our reader experience and feedback. As a result, we tightly control the number of these ads. We looked into these recent complaints and discovered that CBS MarketWatch has been specifically and unfairly targeted by unaffiliated spyware like Gator, which knowingly serves our users pop-up ads without our permission for their own gain. To prevent these pop-ups from displaying, we recommend that you uninstall all spyware programs on your computer.
Posted by Reid
1:05 PM
0 comments
IDG Prepares Case Against Deep Linkers
By Sam Whitmore
About 15 years ago IBM seethed. Dozens of competitors, collectively, were reaping billions leveraging the intellectual property IBM created when it designed and built the original IBM PC. Suddenly IBM's lawyers swung into action. Compatibles makers had to license all patents related to the design of the IBM PC, the company announced. Larger companies with patents to cross-license could do so. Cloners with nothing to trade could expect to pay between a 1 percent and 5 percent royalty on their annual sales.
IDG CEO Patrick Kenealy seems to know his history. In today's Web publishing world, no company employs more editors, pays more benefits and, overall, invests more in tech editorial than IDG. Kenealy wants what's his. He has joined a growing number of scholars, attorneys and other experts studying the concept of "deep linking," the practice of a Web site linking to another Web site deeper than its homepage. Deep links have brought to the Web platform what compatibles and clones brought to IBM's platform.
And, just as IBM once declared war on cloners, Kenealy today is preparing for war against illicit deep linking. He says he's tired of competitors profiting from linking to IDG content without IDG getting some of the dough. That's why IDG recently blocked TechTarget from linking to IDG Web sites. Visit any TechTarget site and click on a link to an IDG article. You'll get a screen that, in so many words, says TechTarget is a parasite and that you really should be a good egg and go to the original IDG site.
TechTarget responded to all this with a prepared statement: "IDG's move to block TechTarget visitors from IDG content has little effect on TechTarget. Less than one percent of our content consisted of links to IDG."
I thought that statement missed the point. Philosophically speaking, how does TechTarget feel about the concept of deep linking? TechTarget CEO Greg Strakosch refused to discuss philosophy. "This ain't a big deal for us," he barked. "It's a totally trivial issue."
No it isn't, Greg. Yes, over the years you have hired many dozens of your own reporters and editors. So have CMP and Ziff Davis, but both of those companies launched IT web portals this year whose business models are modeled after yours, and assume the ability to deep-link.
IDG is currently auditing all the different ways in which competitors link to its sites. When its research concludes this fall, Kenealy says he will address each relationship case by case.
Don't be surprised if IDG starts charging license fees to access its content, or demands a commission on every sales lead generated by a click on an IDG link. At least some of that cost is bound to blow back on advertisers. If on the other hand publishers link only to their own content, readers must do more work, and the Web itself will suffer as a tech publishing medium.
Specifically, here's what Kenealy says he objects to:
* Not sharing registration data. Many Web sites, TechTarget among them, require users to register before being able to read content. If a Web site that requires registration wishes to link to IDG content, that site must be willing to share its registration data with IDG. This is especially important to Kenealy if the Web site linking to IDG content allows Web visitors to bypass the IDG site's own registration page. "It's basic fairness," he said.
* Developing sales leads using IDG content. This point is closely related. Web sites that require registration monitor the content that visitors click on, and study the patterns that develop. When it can be determined that a given user shows an interest in a particular product, technology or vendor, a sales lead is generated and passed on to a Web site's advertiser, usually at an additional charge.
Kenealy figures that it's unfair of a competitor to generate sales leads for itself when Web visitors read IDG content. It might be fairer if that Web site gave IDG a piece of the action, be it a percentage of the fee for the sales lead, or perhaps a blanket cross-licensing agreement of some sort.
* Subscription fees. Web sites should not charge subscribers to read content that is available for free (or with registration) on IDG sites. Web sites and e-mail newsletters specializing in aggregation are the culprits here, Kenealy said.
Kenealy's years at IDG Ventures will serve him well as he pursues his linker competitors. Until he has reason otherwise, Kenealy will treat them all like potential customers. But his patience won't be limitless, because IDG chairman Pat McGovern is watching, and he's as moral as he is profit-minded.
"We've determined that we've been subject to a little bit of abuse," Kenealy says.
Like IBM, he surely will do something about it.
Sam Whitmore is editor of "Sam Whitmore's Media Survey," a web-based editorial analysis service. Reach him via e-mail at sam@mediasurvey.com.
Posted by Reid
10:54 AM
0 comments
Monday, July 07, 2003
Jeff Jarvis comments on AOL's new blogging tools on his site "Buzzmachine."
In a sentence, "They've done a good job."
Jeff comments on the usability of the tools, who should use them and why they are good for the blogging community.
Posted by Reid
9:30 AM
0 comments
Thursday, July 03, 2003
Title: Internet traffic growth: Sources and implications (PDF)
"Abstract: The high tech bubble was inflated by myths of astronomical Internet traffic growth rates. Yet although these myths were false, Internet traffic was increasing very rapidly, close to doubling each year since 1997. Moreover, it continues growing close to this rate. This rapid growth reflects a poorly understood combination of many feedback loops operating on different time scales. Evidence about past and current growth rates and their sources is presented, together with speculations about the future. The expected rapid but not astronomical growth of Internet traffic is likely to have important implications for networking technologies that are deployed and for industry structure. Backbone transport is likely to remain a commodity and be provided as a single high quality service. It is probable that backbone revenues will stay low, as the complexity, cost, and revenue and profit opportunities continue to migrate towards the edges of the network."
Posted by Kelly Abbott
9:15 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, July 02, 2003
Tuesday, July 01, 2003
Donotcall.gov recorded one of the fastest increases ever for a Web site. The site that lets phone customers sign up to block telemarketers saw traffic jump nearly 26,000 percent to more than 3.4 million unique visitors at work on Friday, according to Nielsen//NetRatings.
Additionally, "Federal Do Not Call List" was the No. 1 ranked searched term on Terra Lycos, beating out Harry Potter.
Posted by Reid
11:25 AM
0 comments
Gotta love this one:
YAHOO OFFERS A PEOPLE FINDER
Yahoo is taking a page from the technology manuals of some e-commerce companies. The firm said its new "affinity engine" will be part of the paid Personals service. Members' likes and dislikes will be tracked and so if a subscriber clicks for more information about a certain person, alternate choices will be offered by a link called "people who like this person also liked these people."
Posted by Reid
10:03 AM
0 comments
STUDY: PAID SEARCH FOOLS CONSUMERS
WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- A majority of Internet users are unaware that some results from search engines include advertisers' links, according to research by Consumer WebWatch, funded by the publishers of Consumer Reports magazine. "This new study tells us when consumers find out about it, they feel betrayed," said James Guest, president of Consumers Union. He said many people believe search engines, like Google, are libraries where information is ordered and listed objectively. "They are more like telephone directories, where companies can pay to be listed," Guest said. A research firm monitored 17 savvy Web users who were unaware that some search engines are paid to list results, with all the participants saying the paid results were difficult to recognize as such.
Posted by Reid
9:58 AM
0 comments
Twenty-two percent of companies have fired an employee over improper e-mail use, up from 17 percent in 2001, according to a survey of 1,100 companies conducted by The ePolicy Institute, the American Management Association and Clearswift, maker of software to manage and secure electronic communications.
Posted by Reid
9:41 AM
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