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I sat outdoors on a perfect day recently and thought how fantastic the UK is to live in, warm, sunny, flowers, birds, green... Just a day later it was raining hard, someone drove in the back of me and I arrived at work hassled and wishing I'd never bothered to get up. How fickle life is. Indeed, how quick to change opinions we all are. Just take the Internet and the technology sector.
The other day I was reading an article in a respected newspaper about the latest business must have - Interactive Digital Television. Apparently, it is the answer to all our ills. This is where advertising will pick up, where those hard to get users will sit, where we can sell, sell, sell.
But then that's just what everyone said about the Internet and look how many are smarting from finding out it's actually a lot harder than simply thinking it's great. To work it has to offer real benefits and keep on offering them - day in day out. Now if that sounds like hard work - it is.
Yet here we are again being offered utopia as iDTV. Something else for marketing people to get in a spin about. Another split up of those tight budgets, another raft of knowledge to learn, when most people have not even got to level two of 'Welcome to the Internet'. But do not despair - what you have already learnt about the Internet is a very good grounding for iDTV. It has the same principals, the same basic requirement and the same stumbling blocks. Speed of download is still a huge issue. Only very simple graphics make sense as they must be able to be read from a distance. In fact the vision of what iDTV could be, is not what is actually offered. All sounds a bit too familiar doesn't it?
So am I doing a Monday morning to you? Well one thing I do not what to do is sunny weekend as it doesn't last. No the way forward is simple: be realistic - there are good and bad days ahead. So let's not fall into the trap of thinking it will be sunshine all the way or, at the other extreme that it's only rain, rain, rain - what's happening to the Internet right no
w. After all, ducks love rain and come to think of it so do umbrella manufacturers...If that's too cryptic, think about this. There are all sorts of companies across every sector now doing good business by using the Internet. They are not successful by over hyping, they are successful by consistency. They spend time, effort and money on getting their message out and making sure the promise is delivered. Yes they can improve, we all can but on the whole they give the user a perceived benefit. I think iDTV can learn from watching the long term winners of the Internet.
IMPORTANT: DO NOT MISS THE INTERNET WORLD SHOW 2001 at Earls Court, London June 5,6,7.
Come along and see the winners, the experts, and some of the future. At the same time pop along to the XXIST stand number 1450 and have a chat. We would love to see you all and find out what you are all feeling about the future. If you want to pre register online go to www.internetworld.co.uk
Annie Millar.
Managing director, XXIST.com
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| STUDENTS ADMIT INTERNET USE 'OUT OF CONTROL' |
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Up to 15 per cent of American college students are spending so long surfing the web that their studies are suffering. These findings came from a survey of students at one university in New Jersey. Students admitting to Internet problems spend five times as much time online as other students, according to the research. They are most likely to use the Internet for instant messaging and chat rooms, especially at night. In Britain the figures are likely to be similar according to experts as many colleges now provide 24-hour access to the web.
Another report on Internet use estimates that we now spend a quarter of our working lives managing e-mail - and it's only going to get worse. This British study looked at users in finance, telecommunications, pharmaceutical and government sectors.
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It must have seemed like a good idea at the time - space on your web site for customers to swap stories and offer advice on how to get the best from the service you provide. But it turned into a nightmare for Internet bank Egg which was greeted by hundreds of messages, mostly abusive. Many users had taken to asking each other for help in coping with problems they were having with the bank's service, others simply advised people to steer clear of the company altogether. Egg's response was to withdraw the facility, though they say they are going to bring it back at a later date. They also say that given how many customers they have, there are bound to be some unhappy ones. The bank, which is 80 per cent owned by the Prudential has so far made losses of £380million, but insists it is still on target to break even by the end of this year
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| BT CLAIMS FIRST PLACE IN HIGH-SPEED PHONE RACE |
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The first GPRS phone which allows Internet surfing roughly four times quicker than existing mobile Internet phones has been launched by BT Cellnet. Unfortunately only 600 handsets were delivered to 120 shops around the country on the first day and the company asked retailers to use them for demonstration purposes rather than sell them, but to take orders. The Motorola Timeport T260 costs £199 and customers are charged by the kilobyte of data sent rather than the time of connection. It costs £3.99 a month to download data at two pence a kilobyte or £7.99 a month for unlimited access to WAP web sites. Phone calls are charged at the usual rates. Cellnet said they had kept the launch deliberately low-key with no advertising after criticism that WAP had been over-hyped. Orange, Vodafone and One-to-One expect to launch their GPRS services later this year.
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| ADMARK SCHEME LAUNCHED -- WITHOUT A FANFARE |
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An industry-backed scheme aimed at boosting consumer confidence in the credibility of online advertising has finally arrived - with a whimper. The new media watchers - otherwise known as profits of doom - are so busy predicting the end of online advertising - Mark Twain's word spring to mind here: "The report of my death is exaggerated" - that they barely seem to have noticed and the Admark codes have just slipped in. But by the time the industry has shaken down, this is an area it will be forced to address. The Advertising Standards Authority has begun to receive a measurable number of complaints about the content of online ads. And though Admark is at present an opt-in scheme is goes some way to answering critics.
Meanwhile the EU has a finger in the pie. There is European legislation pending, which would require site operators to ensure that content, products and claims comply with legislation in every member state..
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| CONSUMERS STILL RESPOND TO BANNER ADS |
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Advertisers who have been questioning the value of banner ads can take heart from a new research study. They are still effective in reaching consumers at home, according to the latest research from web analyst NetValue. The study found that during April more than one third of the UK's home users clicked on a banner ad with the average user seeing nearly 100 ads - and each one at least twice. The research also revealed that the number of UK home users has risen by more than two million since the beginning of the year. This is more good news for advertisers as home users tend to have more leisurely browsing habits giving them more time to follow-up on ads which catch their attention.
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| TAMING THE LAWLESS INTERNET |
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It has been recognised for some time now that cybercrime is a growing global problem. But as yet some countries do not even criminalise hacking or the release of computer viruses. The 'love bug' originator in the Philippines, for example, escaped prosecution because he had not acted illegally under domestic law. In a bid to improve the situation, European negotiators are in the final stages of negotiating a treaty on cyberspace law enforcement under the auspices of the Council of Europe, but with the assistance of other governments such as the US. The aim of the Convention on Cybercrime is to enable governments to combat Internet crime by harmonising domestic laws on cybercriminal activities, to foster international police co-operation and to share electronic evidence across borders.
But there are still major objections from America to the European approach. US critics say the convention gives police broad new powers of surveillance with insufficient protection for the individual from invasion of privacy from online surveillance. Civil liberties groups there are petrified at the prospect of the new powers being used not only by the FBI but also by police in countries like Bulgaria and Romania, not noted for their democratic history.
US companies and ISP's are also lobbying hard for changes to the convention. They are not concerned about the treaty's main aims, but that it could require almost every company linking one computer to another to produce data, which the government considers, is linked to crime. There are also cost implications. Critics say the convention can be amended to suit everyone - but the million dollar question is: will it happen?
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| LOWER PRICED ADS, BUT MORE OF THEM |
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European online advertising prices will continue to fall over the next six months according to a new report from Jupiter MMXI. This new research is in line with previous predictions about the cost of Internet ads, which have already dropped 30 percent over the past year. The reason for the sharp decrease is a highly competitive market where the supply of space on the numerous sites and sales networks largely exceeds the demand for online advertising.
The company also estimates that the surplus of unsold ad space could be worth as much as $60 million every month, and the majority of European publishers have over 60 percent of unsold inventory. Another recent executive survey conducted by Jupiter MMXI found that 25 percent of traditional advertisers find the online medium too expensive.
"Lower prices don't necessarily mean less ad spending," says a spokesman for the company." Advertisers get more for their money, but, more importantly their dominant position in this buyer's market allows them to change the pricing dynamics. They increasingly expect price deals based on performance, where they pay for the business results be they clicks, leads, members or purchases."
Meanwhile, a new study from the Yankee Group predicts that the Western European online ad market will almost triple in revenue over the next five years - though less and less of that income will come from banner ads and e-mail marketing. The report predicts that Europe's Web ad industry will rake in about $1.5 billion during 2001, and about $4.2 billion in 2006..
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| DOTCOM COMPANIES IN THE BLACK |
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An e-performance report carried out by management consultants McKinsey & Co shows that 20 per cent of the dotcom companies monitored by the researchers were profitable.
The report covers the nine months to the end of September and shows a gap emerging between winners and losers among the wave of business- to-consumer Internet companies set up since the late 1990s. The company found that Internet retailers are improving their performances while online content businesses - such as sports and news sites - are "mostly failing to build viable businesses for the future".
The survey, which started in 1999 and is updated every nine months, covers more than 200 Internet businesses around the world with combined revenues of $2bn. The most profitable e-tail category was clothes. The study also showed that the e-business off-shoots of established retailers were twice as likely to be profitable as start-up rivals..
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| DOTBIZ FINALLY IN BUSINESS |
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Companies can at last apply for the new ".biz" web address, the first time that Internet regulators have cleared a "top level domain" since the well-known .com, and .org suffixes were introduced in the mid 1980s. ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers said it had authorised web registrar NeuLevel to administer the new address, which can only be used by businesses. Afilias, a group made up of a consortium of 18 web registrars, has also been cleared to take applications for a new ".info" address. Trademark holders will have first claim on addresses like coke.biz and ge.biz, by sending in proof of their trademark in July. Names like coke.biz and ge.biz will become active in October.
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At the same time as it announced a 25 per cent rise for its ADSL service, ISP Freeserve released a scathing statement blaming BT and Oftel for the rise which the company said had been 'forced' on it. The price rise begins in June and will result in consumers paying at least an extra £100 per month. It also said the company had no confidence in either organisation to drive down the wholesale price to the point where large numbers of consumers would be willing to take up the service. The ISP is calling for UK ADSL prices to be reduced to those seen elsewhere in Europe and stated that it is 'not prepared to rescue BT from its ADSL debacle.'
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Of the 16.6 million GB Internet users, almost half have bought something online in the last six months. The 7.8 million e-shoppers have spent an average of £470 each in that time which amounts to a total consumer e-commerce market value of £3.7 million. Compared to the half-year period up to August 2000 there has been an increase of 28% in terms of the number of on-line shoppers and an increase of 46% in terms of the total market value. For the 6-months to February 2001, the value of the online books market was £384 million whilst CDs were worth £139 million. The travel sector attracts far fewer e-shoppers - a quarter of the number buying books online.
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| IS GOVERNMENT SERIOUS ABOUT ONLINE COMMITMENT? |
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Remember that pledge that all government services would be online by 2005 in order "to improve access to services and spur business online", as the Labour manifesto put it? Are we anywhere close? Well, there are 469 local authorities in the UK and the problem for most is one of almost having to start again. With largely outdated IT infrastructures, becoming e-government enabled requires a lot of investment, though experts believe that modernisation is really what the government's strategy is about.
Research by Forrester also recently found that 20% of the UK electorate would vote online if they could. And with many concerned about the level of apathy in this election, it is interesting to note that of the 25% of respondents that did not vote in the last election, almost all of them cited inconvenience as the reason.
Dealing with government departments is not something we choose to do - it's something we occasionally have to do. Enabling people to actually conduct most of these interactions online would undoubtedly be an improvement not only in terms of convenience but also expense and something most of us would welcome. Allowing people to do things like this online will also make people more familiar with the process and some think that would be the biggest single spur to online business the government could make.
But it's unlikely any of this will happen before 2005 and then again, look at what happened to the Inland Revenue...
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| COULDN'T BE WITHOUT ... MY COMPUTER |
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Modern-day gadget lovers would rather be wired up to the Internet than have a telephone or television, according to research. A study of online users in three countries found that by far the majority would miss their computer most if they were stranded on a desert island. The researchers at AOL Europe and Roper Starch Worldwide also found that UK consumers were the most prolific online shoppers. More than half of British Internet users claim to shop either regularly or occasionally online. Interviews with users in the UK, Germany and France also indicated an explosion in the number of users with more than one in three of those questioned having started to use the Internet within the last 12 months.
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