Archive for May, 2011
Tuesday, May 31st, 2011
 Better read the fine print in the contract before you pony up cash for an electronics buy back program, according to AnythingIT.com, which says they can easily be something of a scam. For one thing, you may need to hold onto the original box and packaging, and for another, it may need to be in “like new” condition, even though “like new” is not defined.
AnythingIT.com, a firm focused on electronics disposal, has issued a statement that the gadget “buy back” programs offered to consumers at point-of-sale when purchasing a new phone, computer, or other electronic item can easily be a scam. “These programs are offered at many major retailers and to be blunt, could be a con,” says AnythingIT President David Bernstein.
The programs work by charging the customer an upfront fee and promising up to 50 percent of the gadget’s purchase price if it’s traded in or an upgrade within a certain amount of time. The programs can run 5-20 percent of the item’s price tag and often pay’s little or nothing when the consumer attempts to make the trade-in. The scam’s in the terms and conditions, legal paperwork and fine print.
Read the fine print
“The buy-back programs work in a way similar to term life insurance or extended warranties on a used car,” says Bernstein. “The whole scheme is based on the terms and conditions in how the equipment is returned. The fine print for many of these buy-back contract’s is what puts everything into the retailer’s favor and makes it virtually impossible for a consumer to actually utilize the buy-back program.”
That fine print often has inclusions that no customer even realizes, let alone could comply with. For example, requiring that the item purchased must be returned in its full retail box with all accessories and original manuals included.
Or that the item be in “like new” condition, but with no definition of what “like new” means – giving retailer’s a lot of leeway in refusing items because of tiny scuffs or dings. This says nothing of the data that could be stored on the device, which the retailer may require to be “restored to original” and which they likely give no guarantee they’ll scrub so that someone else doesn’t see your data.
Bernstein says, “Instead donate your used gadgets to charity, use a legitimate recycling program for the item, or scrub the data off of it yourself and sell it online. For the individual, there are a lot of ways to sell or dispose of electronics without harming the environment or getting scammed by retailers.”
Most businesses already know that a good IT disposal policy that takes both the environment and costs into account is just sound business practice. “We here at AnythingIT.com deal with enterprise Government and Commercial businesses every day. For the consumer, these things are just as important and there are plenty of options out there that don’t involve exorbitant fees or ridiculous contracts.”
Tags: AntihingIT, electronics buyback deals may be a scam, electronics disposal, read the fine print on buyback offers
Posted in Hardware, Marketing | Comments Off
Tuesday, May 31st, 2011
 Microsoft Corp. says 5 percent of Windows computers scanned with its new free malware cleanup tool were infected, the company says.
Microsoft’s free Safety Scanner, which relaunched May 12, was downloaded 420,000 times the first week of its release and cleaned malware from 20,000 Windows PCs, a 4.8 percent infection rate, according to Microsoft’s Malware Protection Center.
The average infected PC had 3.5 threats removed. Seven of the top ten malware infections were Java exploits, MMPC reported in a blog post.
Microsoft says two holes in Java account for 85 percent of all Java attacks in the second half of 2010, when Java exploits exploded from 1 million in the first six months to 13 million in the second half of the year.
Both vulnerabilities in Java have since been fixed. But they were still number one and number six in the Safety Scanner top 10 infections, says Microsoft.
The free safety scanner expires after 10 days and must be redownloaded with updates, not exactly the most efficient of systems, but free is free.
Tags: 1 in 20 Windows PCs infected with malware, Internet, Java exploits, Microsoft Safety Scanner, Security
Posted in Internet/New Media, Security, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
Tuesday, May 31st, 2011
 NEW YORK – For years, Internet marketers have had to deal with the fact that many people do not click on Internet ads, but that’s apparently not the case with mobile device users. More than 60 percent of users click on mobile ads at least one a week, according to a report by the Mojiva Mobile Audience Guide.
The report adds, however, that “When seeing an ad, half of users indicated that they would play a game, download an application, or visit a Web site after seeing an ad – but only 22 percent said they would make a purchase, and only 40 percent would download a coupon.”
“This month’s MAG confirms that mobile marketing performs well when it lines up the services and products that affect people on an everyday basis – what to buy, where to eat, how my team played last night. Mobile is no longer a work-in-progress and we have the insight that shows what is effective in today’s environment of on-the-go users,” said Tony Nethercutt, general manager of Mojiva.
Mojiva is a mobile ad network which reaches more than 100 million users in the US and represents 3,000 mobile publishers and apps.
“In the upfront season, we’re seeing that mobile advertising is part of the conversation for major national brand advertising. Marketers need to keep in mind the customization of messages on mobile devices to better match what people want in their everyday lives.”
Additional findings from Mojiva and InsightExpress in the Mojiva MAG:
- Graphic ads were sufficient in capturing attention. Over 84% of users deemed ‘normal banner ads,’ ‘video ads,’ ‘ads that let me interact with them,’ or ‘animated banner ads’ as the forms of marketing they would likely pay attention to
- Text ads still perform modestly with 13% of users most likely to pay attention; however, only 2% pay attention to expanding screen takeover ads
- Marketing offers related to magazines, social/dating, airlines, traffic and banking had the least effective performance.
Tags: graphic ads most effective for mobile, mobile devices users click on ads, Mojiva, Report
Posted in Internet/New Media, Marketing, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
Tuesday, May 31st, 2011
 Social networks, the mobile Internet and coupon sites are turning the shopping experience into an interactive activity similar to playing a game, according to a new report, “The Long and Winding Road: Gamesmanship of Shopping,” from Yahoo and Universal McCann.
According to the study, 66 percent of the consumers interviewed in the survey of 2,485 people said they use search engines, consumer portals, online content such as articles and reviews, and brand and retailer sites when they shop.
This in turn has made shopping a more interactive process in which consumers find, evaluate and socialize regarding potential purchases.
Among the reports findings:
More than half (55 percent) of consumers make fewer impulsive buys, while 17 percent say they are more impulsive.
The Internet is the most trusted source of information on products and brands, preferred by 69 percent, while 43 percent trust magazines and 35 percent TV.
More than two thirds (69 percent) look for deals and coupons online.
Nearly half (49 percent) use socializing tools such as talking to friends and family, but they rely more on consumer reviews than social media.
Many (68 percent) say they are aware of other brands prior to making a buy, while 72 percent agree the Internet helps them decide which brands to consider.
These findings certainly mirror our own purchasing patterns in the digital world. Experts presenting at TechMedia’s annual digital events have been telling marketers for years now that people rely on the Internet to research a purchase even when they do not buy online.
More recently, the current overriding importance of consumer reviews has come to the fore. Even negative reviews can be helpful, if they’re not the only ones, because they help give reviews credibility.
Experts suggest syndicating reviews from brand sites to retailer sites and anywhere else appropriate to increase their reach.
Tags: consumers use web reviews, Gamesmanship of shopping, shopping more like gaming, study, Universal McCann, Yahoo
Posted in Internet/New Media, Marketing, social media, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
Tuesday, May 31st, 2011
 A new report from Forrester Research says that 84 percent of U.S. Interactive marketers have no plans to use games in 2011 marketing strategies.
That, says Forrester, makes social games “a large, untapped opportunity for marketers.” We think it’s also a large opportunity for startups with ideas on how to help marketers take advantage of what social games offer. For one thing, 250 million people play casual games every month.
With Facebook game-maker Zynga likely to launch a much-watched IPO soon, social games are going to be even more of a buzz topic than they already are. Almost everyone seems to like these social games, although privacy and security concerns keep some from playing them via Facebook or other social venues. Still, we get requests to join in some social game or other every day on our Facebook account.
It is rather startling that so few marketers have plans to take advantage of the vast audience and engaged attention social games offer.
Forrester says in the new report that “Marketers should start to take note from the marketers who are investing and reaping rewards as social games offer a diverse audience whose size rivals that of network TV audiences.”
It says that balancing brand interaction with game rewards such as currency, gaming offers marketers a myriad of “value-exchange marketing options” that place brands in front of “engaged consumers.” The report suggests offering currency as a reward for a service or taking a survey as one tactic to use.
The report also says that gaming audiences offer attractive demographics: 59 percent, for instance are women, many of them mothers. Gen X leads in the age group demo, with 30 percent gaming.
Forrester offers the report for $499.
Forrester recommends that marketers focus on games from established players such as Zynga, Playfish, or CrowdStar.
Companies can also create their own social games, but the report notes that such games may or may not catch on.
Tags: advertising, casual games, Crowdstar, engaging consumers, Forrester Research, marketers missing social gaming opportunity, Playfish, reports, social games, survey, tactics for maretking with social games, Zynga
Posted in Internet/New Media, Marketing, Zynga | Comments Off
Tuesday, May 31st, 2011
 LOS ANGELES – OpenX Technologies Inc., which sells digital ad technology, has closed on a $20 million D round of financing led by SAP Ventures, with the participation of other new investors, AOL Ventures, Mitsui & Co. Global Investment, Inc., and Presidio Ventures, the wholly owned investment vehicle of Sumitomo Corporation. Existing investors Accel Partners, Index Ventures and DAG Ventures also participated in the round.
This funding brings the total venture financing invested in the company to $50 million. The company will use the new funds to expand globally, make acquisitions and further develop its technology.
OpenX Enterprise combines an ad server and an ad exchange to enable publishers to manage exclusive, guaranteed, non-guaranteed and real-time revenue sources all in one unified platform. As a result, the company says,, for the first time publishers can maximize yield across all their ad revenue channels in real-time.
OpenX customers include Groupon, Excite Japan and Business Insider. Over the past year, OpenX Market revenue has grown nearly 600 percent. The company has struck international partnerships for the exchange with Dentsu-cci in Japan and Orange-France Telecom in Europe.
“The online advertising technology space has needed a robust alternative for many years and we believe OpenX, with its innovative technology, provides a platform that is both an alternative and a paradigm shift for the industry,” said Hiro Yoshikawa, principal, Mitsui Global Investment.
Tim Cadogan, CEO, OpenX, said, “Having new investors representing one of the world’s largest enterprise companies (SAP), one of the world’s largest internet pure-plays (AOL) and two of the most important global Asian trading firms (Mitsui and Sumitomo) all coming together to invest in the global technology platform company we are creating is – we believe – a compelling and powerful mix.”
With online advertising continuing to grab market share, we suspect established companies in the space are likely to do well unless some innovation displaces them.
Nino Marakovic, managing director, SAP Ventures., said, “We see digital advertising rapidly becoming an integral part of the enterprise ecosystem as it becomes more and more core to businesses. We believe that OpenX will become an industry-defining platform in this rapidly growing sector.”
Tags: Accel Partners, AOL Ventures, DAG Ventures, digital advertising, Inc., Index Ventures, Los Angeles, Mitsui & Co. Global Investment, OpenX Technologies, Presidio Ventures, SAP Ventures
Posted in Internet/New Media, Marketing, Money | Comments Off
Tuesday, May 31st, 2011
 Despite near unanimous agreement that improving core business processes like contracts management, accounts payable and order fulfillment make more successful organizations, few companies understand how to improve these data-intensive processes. That’s according to a recent survey of 5,500 company records managers. But Iron Mountain says better information management can help.
Conducted by Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE: IRM), the information management company, the survey on business efficiency asked respondents to weigh the importance of improving processes through better information management against the current state of those processes in their organizations.
The results reveal most are unhappy with how their core processes run, despite having formal programs for how their companies should manage information. The key findings include:
- Efficiency is “mission critical” – 90 percent of respondents rank process efficiency as imperative to their business goals and to the overall success of their organization;
- Most aren’t happy with their present processes – 93 percent of respondents are dissatisfied with their revenue-generating and business-support processes and/or are actively trying to improve them;
- The urgency for improvement isn’t there… yet – More than half of respondents (58 percent) have not yet experienced a “trigger” event like an audit or lawsuit that would spur improvement of records and information management processes;
- Structure is in place, but not everyone is following through – Three-quarters of respondents are managing their records and information themselves, but only 35 percent of the respondents believe their program is being used by everyone in the organization.
“Information drives businesses today and can be a real competitive advantage if managed properly and efficiently,” said Sue Trombley, director of consulting for Iron Mountain.
“It plays a vital role in the revenue-generating and core operational processes that keep organizations running. And it can provide valuable insight into not just your own organization but your customers, your industry, your partners and your competitors. The right policies and procedures, implemented across the entire organization, efficiently executed and regularly enforced, can give you a tremendous opportunity to unlock this advantage.”
In response to these findings, Iron Mountain offers the following information management tips to unlocking records and information management efficiencies:
- Eliminate obstacles to sharing information – Consider the utility of a piece of information within the organization: Does it need to be accessed by multiple departments? How often? Breaking the silos and single-ownership habits of information creation and management allows for easy sharing and ensures it can move freely in the organization;
- Take paper out of the equation when you can – Digitizing or even removing paper from traditionally paper-heavy processes (such as travel and expense reimbursement) can streamline your business, making it easier to share and improve revenue-generating operations like accounts payable or billing;
- Don’t be a “copycat” – Look for areas where redundant copies are slowing down your business and consider centralizing information for better access;
- Be prepared – A defining characteristic of an efficient organization is a comprehensive disaster recovery and litigation readiness plan, ensuring that if something does happen, you have access to the critical information that keeps your business running;
- Keep it simple, for agility’s sake – Simplifying your information management policies and procedures (e.g., reducing the number of “touches” and approvals needed for a document), will make it easier to adapt core processes in times of change or growth.
Tags: best practices, Business advice, Four tips to improve business efficiency, information management, Iron Mountain Inc.
Posted in Business advice, Internet/New Media, IT, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
Friday, May 27th, 2011
 Google Inc. has unveiled Google Wallet, a new service that allows users to pay for things via a smartlphone app, and Paypal Inc. promptly sued the company, alleging intellectual property theft.
Google’s Payments Vice President Osama Bedieris a former PayPal employee who was with the eBay owned online payments service for nine years prior to joining Google. PayPal alleges Google hired Bedieris to gain access to PayPal’s IP.
The new Google service lets users tap a credit card on an Android smartphone screen, then tap the phone to a restaurant or store credit card reader to make payments. Google will sell ads and offer coupons along with the service. Google plans to launch the service in San Francisco and New York this summer before going national. Initially, it will only work with certain specific cards.
PayPal says Bedieris put all the latest PayPal information on a computer before leaving the company.
The suit also names former eBay employee Stephanie Tilenius, who went to work for Google in 2009 and worked with Bedieris on Google Wallet.
“Sometimes the behaviors of people and competitors make legal action the only meaningful way for a company to protect one of its most valuable assets — its trade secrets,” PayPal said on a company blog Thursday.
Tags: ebay, Google Wallet launching, Osama Bedieris, PayPal sues Google, Stelphanie Tilenius
Posted in Internet/New Media, Marketing, Money | Comments Off
Friday, May 27th, 2011
 Genae Girard By Genae Girard
Every company is trying to use Facebook in an attempt to move their business forward and stay connected to their customers in this fast paced world. Why are some companies more successful at this than others? Content is the key to staying in touch with your customers and keeping them informed. The content, however, must be a rich mix of information, education, humor and fun. Use the HICCUP approach to make your Facebook page more successful:
HUMOR
Humor allows your audience to come away with a warm fuzzy feeling and a friendly attachment to your message. It doesn’t have to be industry specific, although it can be. You can do viral searches on YouTube and/or sites that plug social media. Always watch a video all the way through before posting as you don’t want it to include any profanity or other unmentionables. Remember video is king. Written blogs are being trumped by the clever, colorful and often fun video blogs.
INTERACTIVE QUESTIONS
Don’t be afraid to ask open-ended questions to your group. For example, if you are a financial advisor, you may want to ask, “what is your biggest concern with the down economy?” The purpose here is to begin the conversation. People posting their answers will create a community buzz. Letting the responses unfold naturally also gives you a marketing advantage. The financial advisor can track the concerns and create future training or webinars around his/her consumer’s needs.
CONTENT
If you don’t provide a myriad of interesting topics, information and current trends, current customers as well as future customers simply go away. Clicking “Unlike” on Facebook is just as easy as clicking “Like.” Smart, clever and challenging content will keep your audience waiting for more. With most companies having a presence on Facebook, competition will become fierce and you have to stand out.
CURRENT EVENTS
If you haven’t done so already, get plugged in to all online media, and/or trade publications online. When something interesting pops up, pass it along for other people’s knowledge. If something political occurs that impacts your industry for example, pass it along. Never make a personal judgment about the event. Let your community unfold. Use Google Alerts in which you can program in key words to notify you of events and news feeds that pertain to your industry. Use a program like Hootsuite to consolidate and Tweet events out to all of your feeds and accounts at one time.
UTILIZING INDUSTRY FACTS
Keep your followers abreast of changes in your particular industry and relate them back to your own business. For example, if you are an accountant and there are some tax changes around the corner, keep people aware by posting them on Facebook. If you are a medical office, you may want to post information on when a flu vaccine is available and what days and times you can sign up for the office visit. These are specific actions that endear your customers to your brand.
PROMOS and SPECIALS
Mention specials, promotions, new products and services. You can get creative here and run a coupon or contest. Talk about new employees, business awards or articles written by your staff. You can drive traffic to your business and services by using this concept. The one caution is that you shouldn’t overuse Facebook to market to your customer base. They can grow tired of it and quickly choose “Unlike” on your page, causing you to lose a potential client.
To be successful, all categories should be represented on your posts daily. If you personally don’t have time, assign this process to an employee or virtual assistant. Give them these rules for your industry and explain the process. Generally creative, idea-generating minds are the best individuals suited for this task. If you follow this model for promoting your business on Facebook, customers will stick around to see what you post next. As the Facebook community grows, we will all have to fight for the attention of the consumer.
Genae Girard is a speaker, author and entrepreneur. She is the founder of www.BeyondtheBoobieTrap.com, an online social media tribe of over 20,200 breast cancer survivors and regularly speaks on the topics of women in leadership, building a tribe and social media. She is also the author of “Off the Rack: Chronicles of a Thirty-Something, Single, Breast Cancer Survivor.” For inquiries, e-mail: info@BeyondtheBoobieTrap.com.
Tags: best practices, content key to Facebook, facebook, Hiccup approach to Facebook, social media
Posted in Business advice, Facebook, Internet/New Media, social media, Viewpoint | Comments Off
Thursday, May 26th, 2011
 Motorolla's Xoom DULLES, VA – Four and a half million domain names were added to the Internet in the first three months of 2011, according to the latest Domain Name Industry Brief published by VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure services for the networked world.
The first quarter of 2011 closed with a base of more than 209.8 million domain name registrations across all Top Level Domains (TLDs), or a 2.2 percent increase over the fourth quarter of 2010. Registrations grew by 15.3 million, or 7.9 percent year over year.
Verisign’s combined base of .com and .net domain names experienced aggregate growth in the first quarter of 2011, surpassing a total of 108 million names. New .com and .net registrations totaled 8.3 million during the first quarter. The total represents a 9.2 percent increase year over year in new registrations, and a 2.7 percent increase from the fourth quarter. The .com/.net renewal rate for the first quarter was 73.8 percent, up from 72.7 percent from the fourth quarter.
Tablet PC Market to Reach 100 Million Units by 2015
ROCKVILLE, MD – Worldwide Tablet PC market size in 2010 was nearly US$ 9 Billion and it is anticipated that Tablet PC unit sales will cross 100 Million Units by 2015. In 2010, US and Western Europe together holds 75% of Tablet PC unit sales share but they are gradually losing their share to China and Korea, according to Renub Research in a new report, “Worldwide Tablet PC Present and Future Market Scope (2010 – 2015) and its Impact on Various Sectors.”
Latin America Tablet PC unit sales and market size will keep on growing year on year but due to aggressive growth by China, its market share worldwide will decline year on year. India, Australia, Central and Eastern Europe, Africa and Middle East Tablet PC unit sales and market sizes will keep on increasing year on year (2010 to 2015).
The Tablet PC is expected to drive massive demand for digital content and services. Telecom service provider is likely to benefit most from it in the same way as they gained from smartphone boom. This is demonstrated by the fact that sales of the 3G iPad make up as much as 40% of total iPad sales. Internet traffic and location based services will increase tremendously thus creating a market for Internet service provider. This will further create a market for online paid content industry.
We’re still waiting for the tablet that will replace our netbook. Both the Xoom and the iPad weigh about 1.6 lb., almost exactly the same as the Acer netbook we’re using. The netbook does show signs of being under-powered (with only 1GB of RAM and running XP) and the Xoom we tested was certainly faster. We still prefer a regular (non-virtual) keyboard.
Kabam loads up with $85M for Facebook games
If we needed any more convincing that valuations and funding rounds in the California digital ecosystem are climbing into the stratosphere, here’s another:
Kabam, which offers games that appeal to the more serious electronic game fans on Facebook, has raised $85 million from investors including Google Ventures, Pinnacle Ventures. Performance Equity, SK Telecom Ventures, Canaan Partners, Redpoint Ventures and Intel Capital. This follows the firm’s $30 million raise a few months ago.
The company’s games include Glory of Rome, Dragons of Atlantis and Kingdoms of Camelot.
Dragons of Atlantis, which has about 4 million monthly active users, is its most popular.
We expect to see even more large rounds for West Coast digital media, gaming, and social media firms, but Southern Capitol Ventures David Jones warned at TechMedia’s recent Digital Summit in Atlanta that valuations on the East Coast – particularly in the Southeast – are not anywhere near what they are now on the West Coast.
Tags: Atlanta, Canaan Partners, David Jones, Digital Summit, Google Ventures, Intel Capital, Internet domain names, Kabam, market research, Pinnacle Ventures. Performance Equity, Redpoint Ventures, Renub Research, SK Telecom Ventures, Southern Capitol Ventures, tablet pc sales, Verisign
Posted in Hardware, Internet/New Media | Comments Off
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