|
Posted 7:36 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Tidbits on Vacation
There will be no new items published Thursday or Friday, July 4-5. Enjoy the holiday!
Posted 10:04 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
RIP, YIL
Jade Walker on another dead publication
In the past five years, millions of people have discovered the wonders of the Internet. They've purchased computers, connected their modems and logged on. But once their browsers loaded for the first time, they were stumped about what to do next. What should they see? In response, Yahoo! Internet Life Magazine positioned itself as a top editorial tourguide, helping new and old users find the most interesting and useful sites on the World Wide Web.On Tuesday, Ziff Davis Media cancelled the publication, canning 35 staffers in the process. Cause of death is attributed to the shift in the U.S. economy. Even with a circulation of 1.1 million, the magazine couldn't sustain itself on subscriptions and current advertising revenue. The final issue will be published in August.
[ Discuss THIS item | See ALL Tidbits discussions ]
Posted 9:58 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Cross-Referenced Classifieds
Juan C. Camus on enhanced print + online ads
El Mercurio has begun a premium classifieds ads feature in its print edition, which sends people to its website for ehnanced versions of the ads. When you go to the classified ads section of the print edition, you can see that some of the ads include a “Web code,” which is a number like “2011662” -- for a BMW car, for example. If you go to El Mercurio's website and enter the number in a search box, you'll get a full page with a photo and complete specifications, price, and contact information.
[ Discuss THIS item | See ALL Tidbits discussions ]
Posted 5:22 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Banks Pass Usability Test
Juan C. Camus on transactional usage
Thirty-one percent of people who have accounts with banks in Chile used Internet banking during recent months, according a usability study reported by La Tercera. Of those, 79 percent successfully accomplished transactions, favoring 'Net banking to avoid bureaucracy and to speed up their transactions. The study also found that 50 percent of Chilean banks are offering transactions over their websites, which cost just 10 percent of an similar offline operation.
[ Discuss THIS item | See ALL Tidbits discussions ]
Posted 12:43 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Microsoft's 'Magic Box'
Rich Gordon on the battle for your living room
Microsoft is laying the groundwork for building a new consumer electronics device code-named "Freon" (because it's so cool). Essentially, it's an XBox gaming console (already Ethernet-capable) combined with a personal video recorder. It's one more sign that Microsoft is serious about positioning itself to control what some have called the "magic box" -- an Internet-connected device that will control all your other devices (TV, stereo, computer, etc.). David Coursey of ZDNet says Microsoft would be foolish not to build this "Frankenbox." Me? I've got mixed feelings. I think the "magic box" is needed -- it ought to be a lot easier than it is to wire my home for multimedia, and I don't think the promise of the Web will be fulfilled until we can bring interactivity to what we now think of as the TV. But the ever-expanding Microsoft empire makes me nervous. (Recommendation: read this article from Red Herring about Microsoft's XBox strategy.)
[ Discuss THIS item | See ALL Tidbits discussions ]
Posted 4:48 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
DoubleClick sells North American Ad Media Business
Vin Crosbie on the company's move to technology and measurement
DoubleClick today announced that L90 is buying its North American advertising media business. The consolidated company will become known as MaxWorldwide and reportedly be the largest online ad sales and representation company in the world. L90 will give DoubleClick a 16.1 percent share in the new company, which will be headquartered in New York City. The sale is part of a continuing strategy by DoubleClick to switch from the ad networking business to the ad technology & measurement business. As another part of that plan, DoubleClick last week purchased the 50 percent share that it didn't already own of the Abacus Direct Europe consumer database.
[ Discuss THIS item | See ALL Tidbits discussions ]
Posted 12:26 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Watch Your Language
Rich Gordon on mislabeling sponsored links
The Federal Trade Commission is warning search engines that they need to properly disclose which links are paid advertising, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. As the article notes, some search engines list paid links with hard-to-understand labels like "featured listings" and "search partners." The FTC warning applies only to search engines, but presumably could also extend to content sites that provide links to purchase products on e-commerce sites. Whether threatened by the FTC or not, all sites would be wise to disclose the nature of their commercial relationships. Among search engines, Yahoo! is a good model, calling its paid links "sponsor matches" and including a prominent "What are sponsor matches?" link with a clear explanation. Among sites that meld content and commerce, C|Net has a good disclosure statement, but one might argue that it is too hard to find on the site. For instance, check out this review of a notebook computer. You can click to get comparative prices but on neither page can you find an explanation of the company's business relationships with product vendors.
[ Discuss THIS item | See ALL Tidbits discussions ]