Member Article

Weekly internet update

The North East Regional Portal’s head of e-business, Pascal Fintoni, shares his take on the latest in the world of internet marketing…

In the news: The UK has been leading the way in online purchasing for a while now, but new research from Mintel shows that grocery shopping is helping to drive that trend. According to a report by Web User, the sophisticated online services of Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda helped contribute to online sales figures of £12.8 billion in 2007.

The Financial Times reports on the impact of ‘dongles’; modems that enable wireless access to the internet via a laptop. These dongles are being provided by mobile phone operators, and the FT reckons they could threaten the services of fixed line operators.

The phenomenon of ‘cybersquatting’; where companies or individuals illegally buy-up web domains that are similar to large, well known brands is on the rise again, reports Web User. The practice aims to drive traffic away from the big brands and top the newly acquired site.

Non-profit website Wikipedia is seeking new revenue sources, despite its position as second most popular social media sites in the UK and the 7th most popular site in the US. Marketing Vox claims that new revenue is to be sort despite public dismissals of the necessity of advertising by the founders of the site in the past.

Plug of the Week: Congratulations go out to Steven Williams, winner of the YouTrade competition. The Newcastle-based entrepreneur, successfully set up a business selling rare car and motorcycle manuals on eBay after being awarded £2000 through the competition run by regional development agency One NorthEast.

Story of the Week: Anti-Iraq war protestors used micro blogging service Twitter to help co-ordinate their activities during protests to mark the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war, according to Wired. A tangible indication of the popularity and relevance of social media, blogging and networking sites.

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