Video viral marketing proves a marketing failure
by Brian TurnerMarketing Experiments (ME) – who recently acquired Marketing Shrepa – released a study that claimed that viral marketing via videos proved an incredibly cost-effective way to get conversions.
However, the study has proved to be controversially flawed.
In the study, the researchers spent $9600 creating 28 videos, which were then syndicated on YouTube, Google Video, and others.
Each [...]
November 14, 2006
New VP for Apple as share options scandal rolls on
by Brian TurnerApple has appointed a new senior vice president and general counsel for the company.
Donald J. Rosenberg moves in from IBM to replace Nancy Heinen, who left mysteriously in May earlier this year.
The event of change of senior VP is seen by many as widely linked to the share options scandal that has rocked most of [...]
EU investigates Mastercard & Visa
by Brian TurnerThe European Union is investigating the credit card industry, to determine whether fair practices are being applied in Europe.
Currently US firms Mastercard and Visa dominate the industry, and the EU is trying to determine if these are undermining potential rival companies with their fee structures.
While any potential action from an investigation are a long way [...]
Customers unhappy with broadband
by Brian TurnerAccording to a uSwitch customer survey, broadband customers are increasingly unhappy with their service.
While uSwitch highlights that “most providers fail to match rising customer numbers with improved services and technology”, the truth is probably more unsettling.
Simply put, too often providers invest very little in customer and technical support departments – leaving customers unable to quickly [...]
November 13, 2006
Protx acquired by Sage
by Brian TurnerPopuler merchant payment processing gateway, Protx, has been acquired by Sage.
It appears the giant of accountancy and money management is looking to integrate its software direct with online processing:
The sale will give Sage the capability to integrate the Protx secure payment systems with their business management software, opening up new possibilities for potential and existing [...]
Businesses warned on Parcel Delivery Service scam
by Brian TurnerCorrection: It appears that PDS has already been closed down, but stories about it’s existence continue to circulate on the internet as a new development (see comments below).
Businesses across the UK are being warned to be careful of a scam by a company by the name of Parcel Delivery Service.
The scam involves the random posting [...]
November 12, 2006
Microsoft Office 2007 already cracked
by Brian TurnerEven before final release to beta testers, cracked versions of Microsoft’s completed Office 2007 have already been posted online.
“Cracked software” means that the digital protections have been by-passed, often by usually a single registration key to activate a version for distribution.
Although Microsoft is likely to patch the crack and make the downloads less then useful, [...]
Linux saved from US anti-trust laws
by Brian TurnerA legal battle in the US has concluded that Open Source software does not violate anti-trust laws.
It centers on a case brought by a Daniel Wallace against IBM, and Linux developers Novell, and Red Hat.
He claimed that the provision of free open source software by these companies undermined the ability for proprietary software developers to [...]
Four seconds to sell online
by Brian TurnerA study by Akamia and Jupiter Research found that slow loading websites were a major reason for shoppers to abandon them.
Although product and shipping prices were a key reason to shop – or not – at an ecommerce store, page loading speed was the second biggest factor.
The study interviewed 1056 internet shoppers over 2006.
They found [...]
Microsoft search suffers serious flaws
by Brian TurnerSerious flaws in the new MSN Live.com search engine have been revealed, which could adversely affect websites.
The first is that MSN search is reportedly unable to handle 301 redirects, a common internet protocol used online to indicate that a webpage – or even a website – has moved to another domain.
This means that Live.com is [...]
November 9, 2006
PPC advertisers complain on new quality scoring
by Brian TurnerGoogle Adwords have introduced a new system of “quality scoring” which has resulted in complaints from advertisers.
As marketing manager Micheal Gray illustrated, costs for successful keywords have been seen to rise without apparent justification.
Other PPC managers have complained that the complete lack of transparency on so-called “quality controls” means it’s hard for some to perceive [...]
November 7, 2006
Technorati releases blog tracking stats
by Brian TurnerTechnorati has released it’s State of the Blogosphere report for the year, providing valuable statistics on blogs and bloggers.
The study also shows that the most influential bloggers online post much less frequently that less known bloggers – but that they have done so more regularly for a longer period of time.
Key statistics include:
100,000 blogs are [...]
November 3, 2006
Google streamlines mobile Gmail
by Brian TurnerGoogle have launched a new application for mobile Gmail users.
Gmail for Mobile Devices is a java application that helps streamline Gmail operations on mobile devices.
Previously, it could take up to 10 clicks just to action a GMail account, but now the service reportedly allows simply email access in just 2.
The application is free to download, [...]
Microsoft joins forces with Novell
by Brian TurnerMicrosoft and Novell have joined together in a strategic alliance.
Both companies aim to promote interoperability between Microsoft’s Windows applications and Novell’s Suse Linux.
Novell is currently developing Xen as a method of running multiple operating systems on the same machine, whereas Microsoft were previously working on their own project, named Veridian.
The move will see both [...]
November 2, 2006
Google threat to TV revenue
by Brian TurnerChannel 4’s Chief Executive, Andy Duncan, has said that online advertising is a threat to TV revenues.
He highlighted this by pointing out that at the current rate, Google’s revenues will outstrip Channel 4’s revenues by the end of the year.
Andy Duncan has already approached Google to discuss syndication of Channel 4 programming online, as well [...]
Retraction & apology
by Brian TurnerEarlier this week Platinax News reported that Ubuntu, Trustix, and Suse made it difficult for subscribers to their email lists to opt out.
Key issues raised were that there was no clear unsubscribe option, and the unsubscription process was user-unfriendly. This could lead to disgruntled subscribers perceiving themselves to be be subject to unwanted emails.
However, it’s [...]
November 1, 2006
Ask and Lycos join PPC forces
by Brian TurnerAsk and Lycos have signed a distribution deal to provide a new tier of content for PPC advertisers.
However, Ask has recently come under fire for providing PPC traffic of little value to advertisers.
It comes at a time when advertisers are increasingly concerned about the quality of sites and traffic they gain through PPC advertising.
Most seriously, [...]
Malware targets online video
by Brian TurnerSecurity firms are warning that an increasing number of online videos are being packed with malware – adware, spyware, and computer viruses – to catch out the unwary.
The warning specifically applies to video files that require a Codec to be downloaded to allow the video to play properly.
Although many Codecs are perfectly legitimate, some work [...]
Spam fighters join for global action plan
by Brian TurnerA number of the world’s largest anti-spam organisations have come together to form an alliance to help fight spam across the world.
Set up by the OECD, the Stop Spam Alliance (SSA) is a coming together of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC), the EU Contact Network for Spam enforcement Authorities (CNSA), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), [...]
Russian hackers can be tried in UK – judge
by Brian TurnerA judge has ruled that a case involving a UK company’s servers being hacked from Russia can be tried in the UK.
The ruling comes over a bitter dispute after UK company Ashton claims its server in London were hacked in order to retreive sensitive commercial data on one of its client companies, Ansol.
Ashton claims Russian [...]