Member Article

Weekly internet update

e-business expert Pascal Fintoni shares his take on the latest in the world of internet marketing…

In the news: 93% of online businesses plan to add Web 2.0 online capabilities to their sites by this time next year, with over 50% planning to do so in the next six months according to a study by Scene 7. Also on the wanted list for the rest of this year are user rating and ranking facilities, videos and blogs.

Internet giants AOL have moved to snap up UK-based, Newcastle-born affiliate marketing company Buy.at. Marketing Vox reports that the £150 million purchase will operate as a business unit of AOL’s Advertising.com as well as helping to steel some of the limelight away from Google and Yahoo.

YouTube may have a rival in the shape of howcast.com, an instructional video site set up by three ex-Google employees. As well as watching and sharing, the site also features a Directors Program for emerging filmmakers to create and contribute videos.

Talking of online videos, analysis by comScore’s video metrix shows that over 10 billion videos were viewed during December 2007, the most since they began monitoring levels of online viewing. The U.S writers strike is thought to have contributed to the massive figures.

Plug of the week: There are only two weeks left to enter the ‘YouTrade. Online. At Home’ competition. Aimed at helping people in the region make changes to their lives, it will reward 25 winners with up to £2,000 to set up a business from home and trade online, initially through eBay. The deadline for entries is Thursday 6 March 2008. Details on how to enter can be found on www.webetopia.com/youtrade.

Story of the week: Microsoft has announced pan-European deals with MTV and Sony to screen clips of the likes of South Park and Cribs on their free online service MSN Video. Users from England, France, Germany and others will also be able to watch a vast array of music video clips for free. It is thought that Microsoft and MTV plan to extend the agreement to other territories. Sound exciting?

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .