BBC News
The browser that helped kick-start the commercial web is to cease development because of lack of users.
Netscape Navigator, now owned by AOL, will no longer be supported after 1 February 2008, the company has said.
In the mid-1990s the browser was used by more than 90% of the web population, but numbers have slipped to just 0.6%.
In particular, the browser has faced competition from Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE), which is now used by nearly 80% of all web users.
"While internal groups within AOL have invested a great deal of time and energy in attempting to revive Netscape Navigator, these efforts have not been successful in gaining market share from Microsoft's Internet Explorer," said Tom Drapeau on the company's blog.
Browser wars
Netscape was developed by Marc Andreessen, co-author of Mosaic, the first popular web browser.
Mosaic was written while Mr Andreessen was a student at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois in 1992.
Firefox was created by many of the Navigator developers
After graduation he set up Netscape Communications Corporation and began development of the Navigator browser. The first version was released in 1994.
It was quickly a success and dominated the browser market in the mid-1990s.
But other companies followed its success, notably Microsoft, which bundled its Explorer software with its operating systems.
This culminated in a highly-publicised legal battle, which saw Microsoft accused of anti-competitive behaviour.
Although the settlement saw Netscape gain many concessions from Microsoft including the ability to exploit IE code, it has been unable to gain back its market share.
The demise of Navigator was compounded in 2003 when AOL, which bought Netscape in 1998, made redundant most of the staff working on new versions of the browser.
Many of the staff moved to the Mozilla Foundation which develops the popular Firefox browser. This browser has a 16% share of the browser market.
Fade away
Although a core team has continued to work on the secure browser - it is currently on version nine - AOL has decided to finally pull the plug.
"After 1 February, there will be no more active product support for Navigator nine, or any previous Netscape Navigator browser," wrote Mr Drapeau.
"We feel it's the right time to end development of Netscape branded browsers, hand the reins fully to Mozilla and encourage Netscape users to adopt Firefox," he said.
Users of the browser will no longer receive security or software updates after the date.
Old versions of the browser will still be available for download, but will no longer be supported.
Microsoft is expected to launch a new version of IE in 2008, whilst the third version of Firefox is currently available as a beta, or test version.
30 December, 2007
29 December, 2007
Online Networking Goes Small, and Sponsors Follow
By Kim Hart Washington Post
When jet-setters began flocking to an exclusive social-networking Web site reserved for the rich, they got the attention of an online community's most valuable ally: advertisers.
The invitation-only site, ASmallWorld.net, has 300,000 select members who have become a magnet for companies that make luxury goods and are trying to reach people who can afford them. The site's biggest advertisers include Burberry, Cartier and Land Rover. Cognac maker Remy Martin last month threw a tasting party for the site's elite members, at which its top-shelf, $1,800-a-bottle liquor flowed freely.
Following the success of MySpace and Facebook, thousands of social-networking sites have popped up to cater to specific interests, backgrounds, professions and age groups. Nightclub frequenters can converge at DontStayIn.com. Wine connoisseurs have formed Snooth.com, and people going through divorce can commiserate at Divorce360.com. While such sites have fewer members than MySpace and Facebook, they form intimate communities of like-minded people.
Part of what is driving the development of these sites is advertising. Marketing on social networks is a fast-growing part of the booming online advertising business, and within that, niche interest sites' share is small.
These sites typically allow members to establish a personalized page, then communicate and share photos, songs and updates among their friends. Based on that information, companies can target their ads.
Overall, ad spending on social-networking sites is expected to grow 75 percent next year, to $2.1 billion, according to eMarketer, a research firm that tracks online advertising. With more than 110 million active profiles on MySpace and 59 million on Facebook, those sites still attract the lion's share of attention and money, winning more than 70 percent of all U.S. social-network ad spending in 2007, according to eMarketer.
But smaller sites' share of that money is growing. Of the $920 million spent this year to advertise on social networks, 8.2 percent went to niche sites, up from 7 percent in 2006, according to eMarketer. Next year, niche sites' share of ad revenue is expected to grow to 10 percent, according to an eMarketer report released this month.
Large companies are already testing ads on smaller sites.
AT&T, for example, recently promoted one of its global cellphones on WAYN.com (short for "Where are you now?"), a social network for international travelers. While AT&T also advertises on the bigger sites like MySpace to reach a large audience quickly, the wireless carrier is also turning to niche networks, "where your ads are more meaningful -- those are the real gems," said Carrie Frolich, who manages ad placements in social media sites for at MediaEdgeCIA, which is owned by marketing giant WPP.
Frolich said her clients, including Campbell's soup, Colgate-Palmolive, Paramount and Citibank, are willing to take a chance on smaller sites that could be more relevant to their products.
"Even if they're just dipping their toes in the water, this is their strategy going forward," she said.
MySpace and Facebook also allow companies to target advertising based on their members' interests and habits, but their efforts have drawn criticism from users concerned about those companies' use of private information.
Facebook recently altered its Beacon system after drawing criticism from members objecting to the monitoring of users' online behavior. When Beacon was launched, users who bought items from another site had their purchases broadcast to their network of friends. It was Facebook's attempt to create an automated "viral" marketing campaign, but it caused a backlash.
MySpace used another data-mining technology, HyperTargeting, that sifts through its users' friends, comments and photos to fine-tune ad placement. That, too, has met with complaints from privacy advocates.
Faced with that sort of backlash, marketers are beginning to focus more on ads tailored to smaller, more specific audiences, said Jeremiah Owyang, a social-networking analyst at Forrester Research.
"Companies are learning that these smaller communities may reach people that are more valuable to their brands. It will someday feel more like information than marketing," he said.
Because members of niche social networks share common interests and experiences, they tend to spend more time on the site and contribute to the group by chatting and posting comments. Members tend to be less involved on bigger sites and are therefore less appealing to advertisers, said Julie Wittes Schlack, vice president of innovation and research at Communispace, an online consulting firm in Watertown, Mass.
"The bigger sites have become so cluttered and overrun with advertisers that members are used to tuning stuff out, even personalized ads," she said. But on networking sites that have a self-selecting demographic, people tend to trust the content, including ads, she said.
Facebook user Liz Collins, 26, of the District, said she's drawn to the smaller community aspect of social networking. She said she likes being able to join smaller groups within Facebook while still having access to all of her other friends. She recently joined YogaMates.com at the suggestion of a friend.
"It feels less commercial, which I like," she said of that site.
There's at least one social network for just about every interest or hobby. Yub.com is for shopoholics; Fuzzster.com is for pet lovers; OnLoq.com is for hip-hop fans; Jango.com lets music fans find others with similar tastes; and PassportStamp.com is one of several sites for avid travelers.
Some cater to the obscure. Passions Network, with 600,000 members, has 106 groups for specific interests, including "Star Trek" fans, truckers, atheists and people who are shy. The most popular group is a dating site for the overweight.
Membership on niche networking sites varies greatly, ranging from a few hundred to a few million. LinkExpats.com, which provides an online haven for U.S. expatriates, launched last month and has about 200 members. Flixster.com has 40 million members who rate movies and gossip about actors.
In September, Robin Wolaner launched a social network geared to people over 40 called TeeBeeDee.com, short for "to be determined." Wolaner, who founded Parenting magazine 20 years ago, said she saw a need for baby boomers who cringe at the thought of joining AARP. Next spring she plans to find advertisers targeting the middle-aged market.
"You've got a really active and hard-to-reach demographic coming to this site, and they'll all have to make difficult purchase decisions," such as life insurance and financial planning, said Wolaner, who runs the site from San Francisco. "If we are a safe and trusted place, they'll come to us when they make these purchases -- that's more interesting than just pure advertising."
But not all niche networks embrace marketers.
Sermo.com, a social network for physicians, rejected advertising out of concern that it would tarnish the site's credibility. Instead, Sermo sells access to the site to health-care-related companies wanting to tap into the community's specialized expertise. Sermo has strict membership rules and lets doctors discuss patients or medical opinions anonymously. Industry groups and drug companies pay top dollar for feedback from Sermo's 41,000 members, said founder Daniel Palestrant.
Zolve.com, a two-month-old network for real estate agents, is waiting to accept advertising until its membership, currently 4,200, grows. Eventually, Brian Wilson, its founder, hopes the members will help create detailed Web pages about cities and neighborhoods, making it an attractive place for local businesses to advertise.
"We want to gain their trust before we try to capitalize on them," he said.
Smaller sites still need to take care not to fall into the same trap as their bigger rivals; members may feel exploited if the sites are suddenly overrun with ads, said eMarketer senior analyst Debra Aho Williamson.
"The biggest hurdle is getting consumers used to the idea of being targeted," she said.
When jet-setters began flocking to an exclusive social-networking Web site reserved for the rich, they got the attention of an online community's most valuable ally: advertisers.
The invitation-only site, ASmallWorld.net, has 300,000 select members who have become a magnet for companies that make luxury goods and are trying to reach people who can afford them. The site's biggest advertisers include Burberry, Cartier and Land Rover. Cognac maker Remy Martin last month threw a tasting party for the site's elite members, at which its top-shelf, $1,800-a-bottle liquor flowed freely.
Following the success of MySpace and Facebook, thousands of social-networking sites have popped up to cater to specific interests, backgrounds, professions and age groups. Nightclub frequenters can converge at DontStayIn.com. Wine connoisseurs have formed Snooth.com, and people going through divorce can commiserate at Divorce360.com. While such sites have fewer members than MySpace and Facebook, they form intimate communities of like-minded people.
Part of what is driving the development of these sites is advertising. Marketing on social networks is a fast-growing part of the booming online advertising business, and within that, niche interest sites' share is small.
These sites typically allow members to establish a personalized page, then communicate and share photos, songs and updates among their friends. Based on that information, companies can target their ads.
Overall, ad spending on social-networking sites is expected to grow 75 percent next year, to $2.1 billion, according to eMarketer, a research firm that tracks online advertising. With more than 110 million active profiles on MySpace and 59 million on Facebook, those sites still attract the lion's share of attention and money, winning more than 70 percent of all U.S. social-network ad spending in 2007, according to eMarketer.
But smaller sites' share of that money is growing. Of the $920 million spent this year to advertise on social networks, 8.2 percent went to niche sites, up from 7 percent in 2006, according to eMarketer. Next year, niche sites' share of ad revenue is expected to grow to 10 percent, according to an eMarketer report released this month.
Large companies are already testing ads on smaller sites.
AT&T, for example, recently promoted one of its global cellphones on WAYN.com (short for "Where are you now?"), a social network for international travelers. While AT&T also advertises on the bigger sites like MySpace to reach a large audience quickly, the wireless carrier is also turning to niche networks, "where your ads are more meaningful -- those are the real gems," said Carrie Frolich, who manages ad placements in social media sites for at MediaEdgeCIA, which is owned by marketing giant WPP.
Frolich said her clients, including Campbell's soup, Colgate-Palmolive, Paramount and Citibank, are willing to take a chance on smaller sites that could be more relevant to their products.
"Even if they're just dipping their toes in the water, this is their strategy going forward," she said.
MySpace and Facebook also allow companies to target advertising based on their members' interests and habits, but their efforts have drawn criticism from users concerned about those companies' use of private information.
Facebook recently altered its Beacon system after drawing criticism from members objecting to the monitoring of users' online behavior. When Beacon was launched, users who bought items from another site had their purchases broadcast to their network of friends. It was Facebook's attempt to create an automated "viral" marketing campaign, but it caused a backlash.
MySpace used another data-mining technology, HyperTargeting, that sifts through its users' friends, comments and photos to fine-tune ad placement. That, too, has met with complaints from privacy advocates.
Faced with that sort of backlash, marketers are beginning to focus more on ads tailored to smaller, more specific audiences, said Jeremiah Owyang, a social-networking analyst at Forrester Research.
"Companies are learning that these smaller communities may reach people that are more valuable to their brands. It will someday feel more like information than marketing," he said.
Because members of niche social networks share common interests and experiences, they tend to spend more time on the site and contribute to the group by chatting and posting comments. Members tend to be less involved on bigger sites and are therefore less appealing to advertisers, said Julie Wittes Schlack, vice president of innovation and research at Communispace, an online consulting firm in Watertown, Mass.
"The bigger sites have become so cluttered and overrun with advertisers that members are used to tuning stuff out, even personalized ads," she said. But on networking sites that have a self-selecting demographic, people tend to trust the content, including ads, she said.
Facebook user Liz Collins, 26, of the District, said she's drawn to the smaller community aspect of social networking. She said she likes being able to join smaller groups within Facebook while still having access to all of her other friends. She recently joined YogaMates.com at the suggestion of a friend.
"It feels less commercial, which I like," she said of that site.
There's at least one social network for just about every interest or hobby. Yub.com is for shopoholics; Fuzzster.com is for pet lovers; OnLoq.com is for hip-hop fans; Jango.com lets music fans find others with similar tastes; and PassportStamp.com is one of several sites for avid travelers.
Some cater to the obscure. Passions Network, with 600,000 members, has 106 groups for specific interests, including "Star Trek" fans, truckers, atheists and people who are shy. The most popular group is a dating site for the overweight.
Membership on niche networking sites varies greatly, ranging from a few hundred to a few million. LinkExpats.com, which provides an online haven for U.S. expatriates, launched last month and has about 200 members. Flixster.com has 40 million members who rate movies and gossip about actors.
In September, Robin Wolaner launched a social network geared to people over 40 called TeeBeeDee.com, short for "to be determined." Wolaner, who founded Parenting magazine 20 years ago, said she saw a need for baby boomers who cringe at the thought of joining AARP. Next spring she plans to find advertisers targeting the middle-aged market.
"You've got a really active and hard-to-reach demographic coming to this site, and they'll all have to make difficult purchase decisions," such as life insurance and financial planning, said Wolaner, who runs the site from San Francisco. "If we are a safe and trusted place, they'll come to us when they make these purchases -- that's more interesting than just pure advertising."
But not all niche networks embrace marketers.
Sermo.com, a social network for physicians, rejected advertising out of concern that it would tarnish the site's credibility. Instead, Sermo sells access to the site to health-care-related companies wanting to tap into the community's specialized expertise. Sermo has strict membership rules and lets doctors discuss patients or medical opinions anonymously. Industry groups and drug companies pay top dollar for feedback from Sermo's 41,000 members, said founder Daniel Palestrant.
Zolve.com, a two-month-old network for real estate agents, is waiting to accept advertising until its membership, currently 4,200, grows. Eventually, Brian Wilson, its founder, hopes the members will help create detailed Web pages about cities and neighborhoods, making it an attractive place for local businesses to advertise.
"We want to gain their trust before we try to capitalize on them," he said.
Smaller sites still need to take care not to fall into the same trap as their bigger rivals; members may feel exploited if the sites are suddenly overrun with ads, said eMarketer senior analyst Debra Aho Williamson.
"The biggest hurdle is getting consumers used to the idea of being targeted," she said.
China abandons plans for huge dam on Yangtze
Guardian
China has abandoned controversial plans to build a huge dam which would have submerged one of the country's most renowned tourist areas and forced the relocation of 100,000 residents in the south-western province of Yunnan.
In a rare and high-profile victory for China's environmental movement, the project at Tiger Leaping Gorge on the upper reaches of the Yangtze river was scrapped during a meeting in the provincial capital, Kunming.
But it is unlikely that hydropower construction will come to a halt in what remains a remote and energy-poor region. Officials have turned their attention to sites further upstream and are proceeding with several other giant dams, partly to meet commitments to supply power to the eastern coast and to neighbouring countries such as Vietnam and Burma.
Yu Xiaogang, a campaigner with the local Green Watershed organisation, said profits of national power companies - rather than the economic development of Yunnan - were the driving force behind the carving up of the region's rivers.
The government says its hydropower plans for the upper reaches of the Yangtze are designed to counteract some of the worst consequences of industrialisation that have left filth and debris floating in the lower and middle reaches.
The damming of the Jinsha, or upper reaches, they admit, is one way of cutting off the silt that surges down the Yangtze, threatening to incapacitate the politically important Three Gorges Dam project and cripple local shipping routes.
Local officials also believe that dam construction in the region will make it easier to flush out the chemical poison that has accumulated in the Dianchi lake, a major source of water for the province but now the dumping ground for the dozens of power plants, steel smelters and cement factories that have been built in recent years on its western banks.
After years of rampant hydropower construction - likened by one expert to the construction of "backyard" steel smelters during the disastrous Great Leap Forward of the 50s - activists hope that the age of big dams is coming to an end.
In 2005 Premier Wen Jiabao intervened to block an unpopular plan to build 13 dams and hydropower plants on the untouched Nu river, a Unesco-protected site also in Yunnan, saying that the plan was "unscientific".
But despite recent coverage of the potential catastrophes that surround China's biggest and most notorious dam at the Three Gorges, the government has fought back hard on the issue of hydropower.
While admitting that river banks have collapsed, that biodiversity has dwindled and that many displaced communities have failed to thrive, the government has said that the benefits of construction still far outweigh the risks.
It has also pressed on with the launch of the country's second largest hydropower plant, known as the Xiluodu, also on the Jinsha river.
Backstory
After crippling power shortages in 2004 and 2005 China's leaders approved a capacity expansion programme to take full advantage of the country's resources. That primarily meant coal, which provides at least 70% of China's energy needs, but also water - and the damming of previously undeveloped rivers in the south-west. China's capacity has doubled in six years to more than 700 gigawatts, and since 2005 it has risen by 100 gigawatts a year.
China has abandoned controversial plans to build a huge dam which would have submerged one of the country's most renowned tourist areas and forced the relocation of 100,000 residents in the south-western province of Yunnan.
In a rare and high-profile victory for China's environmental movement, the project at Tiger Leaping Gorge on the upper reaches of the Yangtze river was scrapped during a meeting in the provincial capital, Kunming.
But it is unlikely that hydropower construction will come to a halt in what remains a remote and energy-poor region. Officials have turned their attention to sites further upstream and are proceeding with several other giant dams, partly to meet commitments to supply power to the eastern coast and to neighbouring countries such as Vietnam and Burma.
Yu Xiaogang, a campaigner with the local Green Watershed organisation, said profits of national power companies - rather than the economic development of Yunnan - were the driving force behind the carving up of the region's rivers.
The government says its hydropower plans for the upper reaches of the Yangtze are designed to counteract some of the worst consequences of industrialisation that have left filth and debris floating in the lower and middle reaches.
The damming of the Jinsha, or upper reaches, they admit, is one way of cutting off the silt that surges down the Yangtze, threatening to incapacitate the politically important Three Gorges Dam project and cripple local shipping routes.
Local officials also believe that dam construction in the region will make it easier to flush out the chemical poison that has accumulated in the Dianchi lake, a major source of water for the province but now the dumping ground for the dozens of power plants, steel smelters and cement factories that have been built in recent years on its western banks.
After years of rampant hydropower construction - likened by one expert to the construction of "backyard" steel smelters during the disastrous Great Leap Forward of the 50s - activists hope that the age of big dams is coming to an end.
In 2005 Premier Wen Jiabao intervened to block an unpopular plan to build 13 dams and hydropower plants on the untouched Nu river, a Unesco-protected site also in Yunnan, saying that the plan was "unscientific".
But despite recent coverage of the potential catastrophes that surround China's biggest and most notorious dam at the Three Gorges, the government has fought back hard on the issue of hydropower.
While admitting that river banks have collapsed, that biodiversity has dwindled and that many displaced communities have failed to thrive, the government has said that the benefits of construction still far outweigh the risks.
It has also pressed on with the launch of the country's second largest hydropower plant, known as the Xiluodu, also on the Jinsha river.
Backstory
After crippling power shortages in 2004 and 2005 China's leaders approved a capacity expansion programme to take full advantage of the country's resources. That primarily meant coal, which provides at least 70% of China's energy needs, but also water - and the damming of previously undeveloped rivers in the south-west. China's capacity has doubled in six years to more than 700 gigawatts, and since 2005 it has risen by 100 gigawatts a year.
Google most used website over Christmas
The most search websites on Christmas Day were Google, the BBC and YouTube, according to research from Sheffield-based Internet Service Provider PlusNet.
PlusNet’s festive top ten websites shows online retailers amongst most popular sites accessed on the big day including Argos, Apple and Marks & Spencer.
Social networking site Facebook was the fourth most popular site with Bebo coming in fifth.
Neil Armstrong, products director at PlusNet, said: “The shops may be shut but the internet is always open. Christmas Day internet usage shows that there is no day of rest for the British bargain hunter with many unable to wait until Boxing Day to bag the best deal.” Microsoft and Wikipedia also made the top ten.
In November, Google remained the most visited website with 28.6 million unique visitors aged 15 or older Microsoft held on to second position with 26.8 million visitors, while Wikipedia was the fastest growing property in the top ten during September
PlusNet’s festive top ten websites shows online retailers amongst most popular sites accessed on the big day including Argos, Apple and Marks & Spencer.
Social networking site Facebook was the fourth most popular site with Bebo coming in fifth.
Neil Armstrong, products director at PlusNet, said: “The shops may be shut but the internet is always open. Christmas Day internet usage shows that there is no day of rest for the British bargain hunter with many unable to wait until Boxing Day to bag the best deal.” Microsoft and Wikipedia also made the top ten.
In November, Google remained the most visited website with 28.6 million unique visitors aged 15 or older Microsoft held on to second position with 26.8 million visitors, while Wikipedia was the fastest growing property in the top ten during September
28 December, 2007
Facebook challenged by ad-free rival
Guardian
Badoo: allows users to pay for popularity using its Rise Up function
Badoo, a social networking website which offers users the chance to pay to be popular while banning all advertising, is set to launch into an increasingly crowded UK market.
At the moment, Badoo is a relatively unknown web brand. However, Google recently rated it number two on its "fastest rising" list - behind the iPhone and ahead of Facebook - in its annual report based on the most popular web searches.
The fledgling company positions itself as a "natural evolution of existing social network and blogging sites".
Badoo's unusual business model works against the received wisdom of the primarily advertising-led efforts of established firms such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo.
"We wanted to be advertising free in order to have a 'clean' site so our users weren't subject to adverts which we know can be a turnoff," said Neil Bryant, the managing director of Badoo.
Revenue is derived by technology named Rise Up. For $1 in the US, €1 in Europe's eurozone and £1 in the UK, users can choose to have their profile moved to the top of a rolling list of profiles - in a blend of Digg and a Reuters ticker - that all users can see.
"With Badoo users don't have to add friends - they have immediate access to get their profile in front of the site's entire online community," said Bryant.
For security, users can block any "undesirable" or annoying profiles from seeing, or appearing, on their web page as well as keep information such as birth dates secret.
Asked whether this Rise Up function can provide enough revenue, Bryant said that 20% of Badoo's 12.5 million users access the function once a month.
Thus far, Badoo has developed a strong following in Latin American countries, as well as France, Spain and Italy.
Next year, cracking the UK is a top priority. However, until Badoo has significantly more customers than the current UK user base of around 100,000, the Rise Up function will remain free.
Badoo is also trying to carve a niche in the celebrity market, just as MySpace has in music and Bebo has with youth.
The website aims to approach celebrities and pay them to build an official profile page - bogus profiles will be deleted.
"Badoo users love sharing information about themselves, their friends and celebrity so Badoo has decided that the quickest way to get the message out about the site is to get celebrities to spread and demonstrate the word," said Bryant.
Badoo: allows users to pay for popularity using its Rise Up function
Badoo, a social networking website which offers users the chance to pay to be popular while banning all advertising, is set to launch into an increasingly crowded UK market.
At the moment, Badoo is a relatively unknown web brand. However, Google recently rated it number two on its "fastest rising" list - behind the iPhone and ahead of Facebook - in its annual report based on the most popular web searches.
The fledgling company positions itself as a "natural evolution of existing social network and blogging sites".
Badoo's unusual business model works against the received wisdom of the primarily advertising-led efforts of established firms such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo.
"We wanted to be advertising free in order to have a 'clean' site so our users weren't subject to adverts which we know can be a turnoff," said Neil Bryant, the managing director of Badoo.
Revenue is derived by technology named Rise Up. For $1 in the US, €1 in Europe's eurozone and £1 in the UK, users can choose to have their profile moved to the top of a rolling list of profiles - in a blend of Digg and a Reuters ticker - that all users can see.
"With Badoo users don't have to add friends - they have immediate access to get their profile in front of the site's entire online community," said Bryant.
For security, users can block any "undesirable" or annoying profiles from seeing, or appearing, on their web page as well as keep information such as birth dates secret.
Asked whether this Rise Up function can provide enough revenue, Bryant said that 20% of Badoo's 12.5 million users access the function once a month.
Thus far, Badoo has developed a strong following in Latin American countries, as well as France, Spain and Italy.
Next year, cracking the UK is a top priority. However, until Badoo has significantly more customers than the current UK user base of around 100,000, the Rise Up function will remain free.
Badoo is also trying to carve a niche in the celebrity market, just as MySpace has in music and Bebo has with youth.
The website aims to approach celebrities and pay them to build an official profile page - bogus profiles will be deleted.
"Badoo users love sharing information about themselves, their friends and celebrity so Badoo has decided that the quickest way to get the message out about the site is to get celebrities to spread and demonstrate the word," said Bryant.
- A PR-led push, fronted by as an as-yet-unnamed celebrity, is due to launch in February
- This article was amended on Friday December 28 2007. We have been asked to make it clear that Badoo will launch with the endorsement of a Hollywood celebrity, who will have their own official profile page. We are told that the company is currently negotiating a deal with the star.
26 December, 2007
How to reduce your festive footprint
* Out of 8 million Christmas trees bought last year, only about 1 million were recycled. Most councils run a recycling scheme, so log on to to find out how to go about getting rid of yours in the greenest possible way. Real trees absorb an estimated 5 million tons of CO2 per year, so forget buying a plastic version and go for the real deal.
* Last year, 125,000 tons of plastic wrapping were ditched after the big day, according to the Recycling Consortium. When shopping for gifts, decorations and edible goodies, look for those with the least packaging to avoid leaving a lasting impression on landfill sites.
* Households in England will create an additional three quarters of a million tonnes of waste over Christmas – including over one billion Christmas cards. The Woodland Trust and Recycle Now hope to recycle a record 100 million cards through participating WHSmith, Tesco, TK Maxx and Marks & Spencer stores to help the Trust plant 24,000 trees.
For more ideas visit http://www.recyclenow.com/
* Last year, 125,000 tons of plastic wrapping were ditched after the big day, according to the Recycling Consortium. When shopping for gifts, decorations and edible goodies, look for those with the least packaging to avoid leaving a lasting impression on landfill sites.
* Households in England will create an additional three quarters of a million tonnes of waste over Christmas – including over one billion Christmas cards. The Woodland Trust and Recycle Now hope to recycle a record 100 million cards through participating WHSmith, Tesco, TK Maxx and Marks & Spencer stores to help the Trust plant 24,000 trees.
* Britain's bins are filled with an extra 750 million bottles and 500 million drinks cans after Christmas. There's no excuse not to recycle those extra containers so fill up your recycling box and visit the local bottle banks – or don't drink so much in the first place!
* Academics at the University of Manchester estimate that producing a dinner for eight people generates 20kg of CO2 emissions. Reduce the impact of your spread by buying local, seasonal produce, cooking food in the oven rather than using the hob and composting vegetables and suitable leftovers.
* Fairy lights can add £75 to your electricity bill and result in 500kg more CO2 emissions per household, say researchers at the Environment Institute at the University of York. Buy energy-efficient LED fairy lights or restrict lighting up to a couple of hours in the evening.
For more ideas visit http://www.recyclenow.com/
Ab Fab star backs Christmas Card Recycling Scheme
Ab Fab star Joanna Lumley OBE has teamed up with the Woodland Trust and Recycle Now to deliver an early festive reminder to recycle.
With new figures revealing that households in England will create an additional three quarters of a million tonnes of waste over Christmas – including over one billion Christmas cards – Joanna Lumley said: “Christmas is a great time for celebrations and being with our families, but unfortunately we all end up with more rubbish.
"A simple way to help reduce this and help climate change at the same time is to recycle as much as possible and Christmas cards are one of the easiest items to keep out of our bins.”
The Woodland Trust and Recycle Now hope to recycle a record 100 million cards through participating WHSmith, Tesco, TK Maxx and Marks & Spencer stores to help the Trust plant 24,000 trees. Last year 93 million cards were collected to enable the charity to plant 22,000 trees – or a forest the size of 44 football pitches.
Sue Holden, chief executive of the Woodland Trust, which has collected 443 million cards since the scheme began 10 years ago, says: “Everyone who supports the Trust by recycling their cards is helping us to plant thousands of new trees throughout the UK.”
For detailed information on the Scheme or further help and ideas on recycling over the festive period visit www.woodland-trust.org.uk/cards or www.recyclenow.com
With new figures revealing that households in England will create an additional three quarters of a million tonnes of waste over Christmas – including over one billion Christmas cards – Joanna Lumley said: “Christmas is a great time for celebrations and being with our families, but unfortunately we all end up with more rubbish.
"A simple way to help reduce this and help climate change at the same time is to recycle as much as possible and Christmas cards are one of the easiest items to keep out of our bins.”
The Woodland Trust and Recycle Now hope to recycle a record 100 million cards through participating WHSmith, Tesco, TK Maxx and Marks & Spencer stores to help the Trust plant 24,000 trees. Last year 93 million cards were collected to enable the charity to plant 22,000 trees – or a forest the size of 44 football pitches.
Sue Holden, chief executive of the Woodland Trust, which has collected 443 million cards since the scheme began 10 years ago, says: “Everyone who supports the Trust by recycling their cards is helping us to plant thousands of new trees throughout the UK.”
For detailed information on the Scheme or further help and ideas on recycling over the festive period visit www.woodland-trust.org.uk/cards or www.recyclenow.com
A nation online (on Christmas Day)
The Times
Internet shopping signalled its growing domination of Britain’s consumer habits yesterday as millions began their annual sales hunt from their armchairs.
More than 3.5 million shoppers – 770,000 more than attended Anglican church services – racked up total online sales of around £53 million in what was retailers’ busiest Christmas Day ever.
The maturing online market-place even prompted high street retailers, who year-on-year are losing a greater share of pre-Christmas sales to internet ventures, to join the festive fray.
Dozens of the country’s largest chains sidestepped the legal ban preventing their outlets opening on Christmas Day by offering reductions of up to 70 per cent on products for sale on their own websites.
The total sales online were expected to represent a two-thirds increase on Christmas Day sales last year.
The move towards online shopping comes despite the widely publicised problems with the Royal Mail in the run-up to Christmas. It was criticised after it emerged that more than two million parcels and letters sent for Christmas were lost or delayed.
According to figures from the Internet Media Retail Group, sales by companies that operate online were on course to finish December at £7.4 billion, up 106 per cent on the same month in 2006.
Sales through web stores, including high street retailers’ websites, over the past three months are expected to have topped £17.5 billion – a jump of more than 80 per cent from last year.
Retailers said that the festive shopping spree began at the start of Christmas. Marks & Spencer said that it had been particularly busy during the first hour of its sale from midnight to 1am. The Comet electrical outlet said that it was expecting more than 200,000 visitors to its online store yesterday. Joining the frenzy were an estimated 8,500 fraudsters who used stolen credit card details to buy goods, such as electronic items and jewellery, that can be easily converted into cash. Criminals traditionally regard Christmas as an opportunity for fraud because retailers tend to let their guard down.
Internet shopping signalled its growing domination of Britain’s consumer habits yesterday as millions began their annual sales hunt from their armchairs.
More than 3.5 million shoppers – 770,000 more than attended Anglican church services – racked up total online sales of around £53 million in what was retailers’ busiest Christmas Day ever.
The maturing online market-place even prompted high street retailers, who year-on-year are losing a greater share of pre-Christmas sales to internet ventures, to join the festive fray.
Dozens of the country’s largest chains sidestepped the legal ban preventing their outlets opening on Christmas Day by offering reductions of up to 70 per cent on products for sale on their own websites.
The total sales online were expected to represent a two-thirds increase on Christmas Day sales last year.
The move towards online shopping comes despite the widely publicised problems with the Royal Mail in the run-up to Christmas. It was criticised after it emerged that more than two million parcels and letters sent for Christmas were lost or delayed.
According to figures from the Internet Media Retail Group, sales by companies that operate online were on course to finish December at £7.4 billion, up 106 per cent on the same month in 2006.
Sales through web stores, including high street retailers’ websites, over the past three months are expected to have topped £17.5 billion – a jump of more than 80 per cent from last year.
Retailers said that the festive shopping spree began at the start of Christmas. Marks & Spencer said that it had been particularly busy during the first hour of its sale from midnight to 1am. The Comet electrical outlet said that it was expecting more than 200,000 visitors to its online store yesterday. Joining the frenzy were an estimated 8,500 fraudsters who used stolen credit card details to buy goods, such as electronic items and jewellery, that can be easily converted into cash. Criminals traditionally regard Christmas as an opportunity for fraud because retailers tend to let their guard down.
Privacy tsar warns over data losses
Guardian
The series of data security breaches that has seen the personal details of tens of millions of people lost is pushing Britain to a "tipping point" over how such records are handled, the information commissioner has warned.
Richard Thomas demanded "clearer accountability" and responsibility from organisations holding personal records following the loss of files by government departments and public bodies.
He was speaking as the NHS chief executive, David Nicholson, that patients' medical records were not at risk after it emerged that nine health trusts had lost the records of 168,000 people.
Nicholson said the security of the NHS patients' database was "way beyond" that used for internet banking.
In the latest admission, the Post Office said it had apologised to thousands of pensioners after scores of customers were sent the wrong account statements.
Thomas, in a veiled criticism of the government, said failure to keep personal information secure put organisational credibility at risk and undermined public confidence and trust.
"Right across the piece people here have got to take personal information a great deal more seriously. In the last few months people have got to a tipping point where they are suddenly taking data protection far more seriously," Thomas told the BBC.
"What this has brought home to everybody is the importance of clear accountability and responsibility to make sure to get it right."
He warned data protection was about "credibility" and not just complying with the law.
The loss of medical records was "particularly sensitive" given the confidentiality enshrined in the doctor-patient relationship, he said.
Thomas has raised concerns with NHS managers about the government's Connecting for Health project, which is intended to make patients' records accessible by computer to NHS professionals across the country.
"They have got to be absolutely certain they have identified all the risks and are managing these very carefully indeed. Any mass loss of data from centralised databases would be very catastrophic, but medical information is of particular sensitivity," he said.
Nicholson insisted that Connecting for Health would rely not on a single centralised database, but on linked regional databases, which he said would enhance security. Clinicians and other NHS employees would be able to access details only with a secret user name, password and smartcard, and access would be "role-controlled" so that each user saw only a relatively small number of patient records relevant to their specific area of work.
"There are risks in all this," Nicholson acknowledged. "This is a level of security way beyond what you have in internet banking, for example.
"We are listening to what people say about security and we have a level of security now being built into the system which is way beyond industry standard as far as healthcare is concerned."
Nicholson said the lost NHS data came to light after he wrote to all trusts two weeks ago asking them to look at their governance arrangements on data protection.
Professor Ross Anderson, a computer security expert at Cambridge University, criticised systems allowing an entire database to be accessed by one individual.
"The question is not whether the data was encrypted or password-protected but the deeper question of why is it that somebody has access to 160,000 children's records. Surely that's not right."
The NHS revelations prompted the Tory shadow health secretary, Andrew Lansley, to call for the planned single database of 50 million patient files to be scrapped in favour of a network of local ones.
The series of data security breaches that has seen the personal details of tens of millions of people lost is pushing Britain to a "tipping point" over how such records are handled, the information commissioner has warned.
Richard Thomas demanded "clearer accountability" and responsibility from organisations holding personal records following the loss of files by government departments and public bodies.
He was speaking as the NHS chief executive, David Nicholson, that patients' medical records were not at risk after it emerged that nine health trusts had lost the records of 168,000 people.
Nicholson said the security of the NHS patients' database was "way beyond" that used for internet banking.
In the latest admission, the Post Office said it had apologised to thousands of pensioners after scores of customers were sent the wrong account statements.
Thomas, in a veiled criticism of the government, said failure to keep personal information secure put organisational credibility at risk and undermined public confidence and trust.
"Right across the piece people here have got to take personal information a great deal more seriously. In the last few months people have got to a tipping point where they are suddenly taking data protection far more seriously," Thomas told the BBC.
"What this has brought home to everybody is the importance of clear accountability and responsibility to make sure to get it right."
He warned data protection was about "credibility" and not just complying with the law.
The loss of medical records was "particularly sensitive" given the confidentiality enshrined in the doctor-patient relationship, he said.
Thomas has raised concerns with NHS managers about the government's Connecting for Health project, which is intended to make patients' records accessible by computer to NHS professionals across the country.
"They have got to be absolutely certain they have identified all the risks and are managing these very carefully indeed. Any mass loss of data from centralised databases would be very catastrophic, but medical information is of particular sensitivity," he said.
Nicholson insisted that Connecting for Health would rely not on a single centralised database, but on linked regional databases, which he said would enhance security. Clinicians and other NHS employees would be able to access details only with a secret user name, password and smartcard, and access would be "role-controlled" so that each user saw only a relatively small number of patient records relevant to their specific area of work.
"There are risks in all this," Nicholson acknowledged. "This is a level of security way beyond what you have in internet banking, for example.
"We are listening to what people say about security and we have a level of security now being built into the system which is way beyond industry standard as far as healthcare is concerned."
Nicholson said the lost NHS data came to light after he wrote to all trusts two weeks ago asking them to look at their governance arrangements on data protection.
Professor Ross Anderson, a computer security expert at Cambridge University, criticised systems allowing an entire database to be accessed by one individual.
"The question is not whether the data was encrypted or password-protected but the deeper question of why is it that somebody has access to 160,000 children's records. Surely that's not right."
The NHS revelations prompted the Tory shadow health secretary, Andrew Lansley, to call for the planned single database of 50 million patient files to be scrapped in favour of a network of local ones.
25 December, 2007
It must be mainstream - Queen launches YouTube channel
BBC News
The Queen has launched her own channel on the video-sharing website YouTube.
The Royal Channel will feature her Christmas Day message, and has recent and historical footage of the monarch and other members of the Royal Family.
The launch marks the 50th anniversary of the Queen's first televised festive address in 1957.
The palace said it hoped the site would make the 81-year-old monarch's annual speech "more accessible to younger people and those in other countries".
Changing times
The opening page of the channel, which went live just after midnight, bears the title "The Royal Channel - The Official Channel of the British Monarchy" and features a photograph of Buckingham Palace and the Queen's Guards.
This year's festive address will appear on the site at about 1500 GMT on Christmas Day.
She has always been aware of reaching more people and adapting the communication to suit
Buckingham Palace spokeswoman
Back in 1957, when the Queen delivered her first television message, she acknowledged the need to adapt to changing times.
"I very much hope that this new medium will make my Christmas message more personal and direct," she said from her Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
"That it is possible for some of you to see me today is just another example of the speed at which things are changing all around us."
Clips from garden parties, state visits, prime ministers, investitures and a day in the life of the Prince of Wales will all be available to watch on the channel.
Newsreel
Among the older clips is footage from a film by Lord Wakehurst called Long to Reign Over Us, which has never been released to the public.
The former Tory MP, who died in 1970, was a keen amateur film maker and charted many key royal events, including the death of King George VI, the Queen's accession and her coronation.
The site also has footage of Queen Alexandra's West End tour among the rose-sellers in 1917, and silent newsreel of the 1923 wedding of the Duke of York and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon - the Queen's parents.
Announcing the launch of the channel, a spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace said the Queen "always keeps abreast with new ways of communicating with people".
"She has always been aware of reaching more people and adapting the communication to suit," she said.
"This will make the Christmas message more accessible to younger people and those in other countries."
Poor education
Dr John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, said that the Queen's reign was a "continuing rebuff and rebuttal" to those calling for a republic.
"The Queen represents one of the things that is best about Britain," he wrote in the Sunday Mirror.
But historian David Starkey, who has been promoting his new TV programme on the monarchy, said the Queen "runs a mile from anything called culture".
"She is poorly educated. It's not her fault. It's the fault of her late mother. She had a wretched education, from not terribly well-qualified teachers," he told BBC Radio 5live.
The Royal Channel can be viewed at www.youtube.com/theroyalchannel, and the Queen's Christmas message can also be downloaded as a podcast from www.royal.gov.uk.
24 December, 2007
Facebook is so last year - welcome to the hit websites of 2008
Virtual pets, video diaries and travellers' logs could be the next stars of cyberspace
For many in the dotcom world, 2007 was dominated by one story: the rise of Facebook. The success of the social networking service has increased optimism about the internet industry. After all, if Microsoft is prepared to buy a 1.6% share for $240m (£121m), there is evidence that good ideas can be worth a lot of money. It is no surprise then that investors are looking for the next big thing - and these are some of the favourites.
For many in the dotcom world, 2007 was dominated by one story: the rise of Facebook. The success of the social networking service has increased optimism about the internet industry. After all, if Microsoft is prepared to buy a 1.6% share for $240m (£121m), there is evidence that good ideas can be worth a lot of money. It is no surprise then that investors are looking for the next big thing - and these are some of the favourites.
The New York-based internet retailer says it is "your place to buy and sell all things handmade". Where Amazon revolutionised online commerce and eBay made its name allowing people to sell off their unwanted possessions, Etsy hopes to tap into the trend for hand-crafted and personalised items.
With thousands of craftspeople selling everything from clothes and ceramics to jewellery, the site has quickly become an Aladdin's Cave of the internet.
Its innovative sales approach - such as letting shoppers browse by colour, or allowing geographical searches to support local suppliers - has drawn a legion of followers. Etsy now has more than half a million registered users and 60,000 sellers.
Founded by 27-year-old Robert Kalin from Boston, the site was launched in 2005 and now has more than 40 staff in New York and San Francisco.
Some critics find it a contradiction - a mass market dedicated to niche products - but Kalin says: "Etsy is a distribution platform for any kind of content that isn't mass produced ... not just craft-based, it might include music."
Twitter lets you text message large groups of people simultaneously, and for free. Sign up and send it a message - from a phone, internet or instant messaging service - and it will be sent to your contacts.
Updates are limited to just 140 characters, leading Twitter's creators to call it "microblogging". The craze caught on with the technology cognoscenti in 2007, but many pundits expect it to now reach out to the mainstream.
Updates are limited to just 140 characters, leading Twitter's creators to call it "microblogging". The craze caught on with the technology cognoscenti in 2007, but many pundits expect it to now reach out to the mainstream.
Some say it is a simple way of keeping a connection with friends and family, regardless of time and distance.
"Twitter is about the intimacy of details," said author David Weinberger. "Through it I see small events in the lives of friends about whom I otherwise might only learn the big events when we catch up after long intervals."
Crucially, it has also been picked up by businesses as an easy way to push messages out to their customers.
Co-founder Ev Williams helped popularise blogging with Blogger.com before selling it to Google in 2002.
"Twitter is about the intimacy of details," said author David Weinberger. "Through it I see small events in the lives of friends about whom I otherwise might only learn the big events when we catch up after long intervals."
Crucially, it has also been picked up by businesses as an easy way to push messages out to their customers.
Co-founder Ev Williams helped popularise blogging with Blogger.com before selling it to Google in 2002.
With Facebook so prominent in 2007, many copycat services are expected in the next few months. But Dopplr.com is trying to find a different angle. Aimed at frequent travellers, the site lets users keep track of where their friends and colleagues are and enables them to meet up in unexpected places - or keep tabs on who is visiting their home town in the next few days.
The site had a public launch this month. During the test phase the audience was limited to international jet-setters and conference veterans, but thanks to a series of canny features - including integration into Facebook - it is ready to break out and gather many more users.
The site, founded by an international team of web technologists, is run from an office in Hoxton, in east London. This year two of its masterminds, Matt Biddulph and Matt Jones, were named among the capital's most influential people.
Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, has said it is his favourite website. "You put in your travel schedule and link to your friends. It allows you to see where everyone is. I love it," he told the New York Times.
Mike Butcher, the editor of startup news website Techcrunch UK, said Moshi Monsters is "Tamagotchi meets Facebook for 7-12 year olds, but with education thrown in". Created by London games firm Mind Candy, Moshi Monsters takes the idea of virtual pet games such as Nintendogs, and adds the concepts of social networking and puzzles.
Players "adopt" a monster by buying a small charm which gives them an access code to the website. They then pick their monster, and look after them by solving regular puzzles. Monsters can interact with each other online, providing a socialising aspect for children with strict systems in place to keep players safe. With its cartoon graphics and addictive qualities, Moshi wants to become the next craze for UK children - and has plans to launch in Europe and the US.
The site is going through testing but the so-called "tween" market can be incredibly lucrative. Club Penguin, a children's virtual world started two years ago, was bought by Disney this year for $350m.
Seesmic.com
Since Google bought YouTube two years ago, a slew of video sites have arrived on the web. One to watch could be Seesmic. While YouTube has become dominated by spoofs, skits and professional marketing videos, Seesmic hopes to recapture the spirit of those who first made the site a success: people who want to put video diaries on the internet.
Since Google bought YouTube two years ago, a slew of video sites have arrived on the web. One to watch could be Seesmic. While YouTube has become dominated by spoofs, skits and professional marketing videos, Seesmic hopes to recapture the spirit of those who first made the site a success: people who want to put video diaries on the internet.
Focused on short webcam "conversations" between individuals, the site has not gone public yet, but has had positive reviews from testers and could become the home for a generation of opinionated, attention-seeking web surfers.
It is backed by Ron Conway, an early investor in Google and PayPal, and European entrepreneurs Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, responsible for Kazaa, Skype and internet TV company Joost.
When it does go public, the site hopes to plug into other hugely popular websites - such as MySpace and Facebook - rather than replace them.
It was founded by a French entrepreneur, Loic Le Meur. The businessman and blogger is known for his brash style, but it is his role as an internet adviser to the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, that could lend most weight to the site.
It was founded by a French entrepreneur, Loic Le Meur. The businessman and blogger is known for his brash style, but it is his role as an internet adviser to the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, that could lend most weight to the site.
Don't be lonely at Christmas time
BBC News
Social networking sites could eventually eliminate entirely the need for the offline socialising that has become the cornerstone of the festive season.
Most people have heard of Facebook but there are plenty of rivals vying for its crown. The BBC News website dips into some of the more interesting alternatives in a bid to make sure that no-one need be lonely this Christmas.
HABBO
Users create avatars and collect furniture
A good one for the teenagers as this virtual environment was created specifically for that age group.
The community was launched back in 2000 and combined the idea of a chatroom with an online game. It has recently had a makeover to improve access to personal pages, friends and groups and bring it more up to date for the generation most at home on social networking sites.
It allows users to create their own personalised Habbo character and dress it with accessories, including hats, belts, jewellery and facial hair, as well as gas masks, paper bags and hairstyles.
Users can also buy furniture to put in the various rooms it creates within the virtual hotel using credits bought with real-life currency
Earlier this month it teamed up with Greenpeace to see what its members thought about global warming.
Some 50,000 teenagers filled in the survey and 74% rated global warming as their biggest concern, ahead of drugs, war or violence.
The site now has, of July this year, more than 82m registered characters. According to Nielsen/NetRatings Habbo attracted an audience of 292,000 from the UK during the month of October.
PERFSPOT
Perfspot is aimed at university students and young professionals
Perfspot is a social networking site geared toward university students and young professionals, and its ethos is based on the desire to obtain a "perf" life.
It offers most of the usual features of social networking, including newsfeeds, customisable profile options and the option of linking photos to other users' profiles plus unlimited space to upload images and videos.
It hit the headlines in the late summer, becoming the fastest growing social networking site. In the months April to August 2007 it grew a massive 756%, compared to Facebook's 541% growth.
As the UK's fastest growing brand this year it is a good illustration of how social networks can come out of nowhere if they hit the right note with users.
FREECYCLE
Freecycle aims to reduce rubbish in landfill
If you have an interest in the environment and like the idea of reusing other people's junk, or have unwanted Christmas presents that you want to recycle then Freecycle could be for you.
The non-profit network is based on the premise that "one man's trash is another man's treasure" and is about harnessing the power of the internet to connect communities and 'gift' each other everyday objects that they no longer want.
It is a global network made up of over 4,000 groups. It now has in excess of four million members, and is adding 25,000 new members each week.
Each group is moderated by a local volunteer and the main thrust of it is to "reuse and keep good stuff out of landfills".
Each city has a unique e-mail group and anyone living in the area is welcome to post items to be given away or seek items that they want.
WEBJAM
Webjam chief executive believes one-stop shops are way forward
A UK site that allows users to aggregate the best of the web in one central location.
A cross between a blog and a social networking site, Webjam allows novices to create webpages for a particular interest or hobby - say a bookclub.
It also allows people to keep all their social media, from Flickr photos to newsfeeds, in one place. This blend of aggregating, blogging and social networking has led to it being described as "the Swiss Army knife of the internet user".
It is particularly useful for those who want to create a webpage for a society, club or hobby but don't know how to do it as it allows you to 'copy' an existing group and personalise it.
According to chief executive Yann Motte, one-stop shops like Webjam are the way forward.
"Going forward it won't be possible for people to manage lots of different accounts," he said.
CAPAZOO
Will the idea of paying users catch on?
This is a Canadian site which is interesting because of its business model.
Like other social networking sites it includes a variety of functions, including blogging and photo and video uploads but it also offers something unique - it pays users for the time spent on the site and the activities they do.
So for example members can get points for inviting friends and posting content.
Users can offer the points - known as Zoops - as gifts to other members.
The points accumulated by users can be redeemed for cash although to do this users must sign up to a membership program which costs either $24.95 or $34.95 per year.
It is a service that more social networking sites are likely to experiment with although the jury remains out on whether it will be a selling point for customers.
WAYN
WAYN is aimed at those interested in travelWAYN networking sites catering for a specialised audience - in this case travellers from around the world.
It was the brainchild of three friends - Pete Ward, Jerome Touze and Mike Lines, who came up with the idea to connect people based on their location.
Since its inception in 2002 it has grown and is now the UK's 10th most popular social network, growing from 45,000 users in March 2005 to over 10 million today.
It has recently announced partnerships with Lastminute.com to integrate their hotel content and booking service and with Hostelworld.com to search for and book budget accommodation.
WAYN was initially launched as a paid service but in April 2007, it became free, though some functions remain available only to those willing to pay - for example, turning off advertising.
Like Capazoo it has begun offering users the chance to earn money. Members use a wizard to create wish lists of products they would like to own or recommend to others which are then displayed in their profile. When contacts or random browsers buy from their web shop the members receive commission from WAYN.
Alex Burmaster, analyst at research firm Nielsen Online believes that sites catering to specialist interests could be the future of social networking as they seek to distinguish themselves from the competition.
REALBUZZ
Realbuzz wants to have offline presence too
Realbuzz is a social networking site aimed at those interested in sports and outdoor pursuits. It is keen not to operate entirely in the online world and encourages members to meet up offline at sporting events.
"Realbuzz is not about people sitting behind their computers, it's all about them getting out into the physical world and experiencing something new," said a spokesman for the firm.
It has around 100,000 active users in the UK and has strong links to the London Marathon.
Chief executive Tim Rogers is himself a veteran of more than 60 marathons.
Social networking sites could eventually eliminate entirely the need for the offline socialising that has become the cornerstone of the festive season.
Most people have heard of Facebook but there are plenty of rivals vying for its crown. The BBC News website dips into some of the more interesting alternatives in a bid to make sure that no-one need be lonely this Christmas.
HABBO
Users create avatars and collect furniture
A good one for the teenagers as this virtual environment was created specifically for that age group.
The community was launched back in 2000 and combined the idea of a chatroom with an online game. It has recently had a makeover to improve access to personal pages, friends and groups and bring it more up to date for the generation most at home on social networking sites.
It allows users to create their own personalised Habbo character and dress it with accessories, including hats, belts, jewellery and facial hair, as well as gas masks, paper bags and hairstyles.
Users can also buy furniture to put in the various rooms it creates within the virtual hotel using credits bought with real-life currency
Earlier this month it teamed up with Greenpeace to see what its members thought about global warming.
Some 50,000 teenagers filled in the survey and 74% rated global warming as their biggest concern, ahead of drugs, war or violence.
The site now has, of July this year, more than 82m registered characters. According to Nielsen/NetRatings Habbo attracted an audience of 292,000 from the UK during the month of October.
PERFSPOT
Perfspot is aimed at university students and young professionals
Perfspot is a social networking site geared toward university students and young professionals, and its ethos is based on the desire to obtain a "perf" life.
It offers most of the usual features of social networking, including newsfeeds, customisable profile options and the option of linking photos to other users' profiles plus unlimited space to upload images and videos.
It hit the headlines in the late summer, becoming the fastest growing social networking site. In the months April to August 2007 it grew a massive 756%, compared to Facebook's 541% growth.
As the UK's fastest growing brand this year it is a good illustration of how social networks can come out of nowhere if they hit the right note with users.
FREECYCLE
Freecycle aims to reduce rubbish in landfill
If you have an interest in the environment and like the idea of reusing other people's junk, or have unwanted Christmas presents that you want to recycle then Freecycle could be for you.
The non-profit network is based on the premise that "one man's trash is another man's treasure" and is about harnessing the power of the internet to connect communities and 'gift' each other everyday objects that they no longer want.
It is a global network made up of over 4,000 groups. It now has in excess of four million members, and is adding 25,000 new members each week.
Each group is moderated by a local volunteer and the main thrust of it is to "reuse and keep good stuff out of landfills".
Each city has a unique e-mail group and anyone living in the area is welcome to post items to be given away or seek items that they want.
WEBJAM
Webjam chief executive believes one-stop shops are way forward
A UK site that allows users to aggregate the best of the web in one central location.
A cross between a blog and a social networking site, Webjam allows novices to create webpages for a particular interest or hobby - say a bookclub.
It also allows people to keep all their social media, from Flickr photos to newsfeeds, in one place. This blend of aggregating, blogging and social networking has led to it being described as "the Swiss Army knife of the internet user".
It is particularly useful for those who want to create a webpage for a society, club or hobby but don't know how to do it as it allows you to 'copy' an existing group and personalise it.
According to chief executive Yann Motte, one-stop shops like Webjam are the way forward.
"Going forward it won't be possible for people to manage lots of different accounts," he said.
CAPAZOO
Will the idea of paying users catch on?
This is a Canadian site which is interesting because of its business model.
Like other social networking sites it includes a variety of functions, including blogging and photo and video uploads but it also offers something unique - it pays users for the time spent on the site and the activities they do.
So for example members can get points for inviting friends and posting content.
Users can offer the points - known as Zoops - as gifts to other members.
The points accumulated by users can be redeemed for cash although to do this users must sign up to a membership program which costs either $24.95 or $34.95 per year.
It is a service that more social networking sites are likely to experiment with although the jury remains out on whether it will be a selling point for customers.
WAYN
WAYN is aimed at those interested in travelWAYN networking sites catering for a specialised audience - in this case travellers from around the world.
It was the brainchild of three friends - Pete Ward, Jerome Touze and Mike Lines, who came up with the idea to connect people based on their location.
Since its inception in 2002 it has grown and is now the UK's 10th most popular social network, growing from 45,000 users in March 2005 to over 10 million today.
It has recently announced partnerships with Lastminute.com to integrate their hotel content and booking service and with Hostelworld.com to search for and book budget accommodation.
WAYN was initially launched as a paid service but in April 2007, it became free, though some functions remain available only to those willing to pay - for example, turning off advertising.
Like Capazoo it has begun offering users the chance to earn money. Members use a wizard to create wish lists of products they would like to own or recommend to others which are then displayed in their profile. When contacts or random browsers buy from their web shop the members receive commission from WAYN.
Alex Burmaster, analyst at research firm Nielsen Online believes that sites catering to specialist interests could be the future of social networking as they seek to distinguish themselves from the competition.
REALBUZZ
Realbuzz wants to have offline presence too
Realbuzz is a social networking site aimed at those interested in sports and outdoor pursuits. It is keen not to operate entirely in the online world and encourages members to meet up offline at sporting events.
"Realbuzz is not about people sitting behind their computers, it's all about them getting out into the physical world and experiencing something new," said a spokesman for the firm.
It has around 100,000 active users in the UK and has strong links to the London Marathon.
Chief executive Tim Rogers is himself a veteran of more than 60 marathons.
Over half of US teens use social networking sites
Brand Republic
More than half of teenagers in the US have profiles on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, while 64% create and publish content online, according to a new study.
The study, carried out by the Pew Internet & American Life Project from data gathered in 2006, found that 55% of US teens had profiles on social networking sites.
It found that 64% of children aged 12-17 engaged in creating online content, a figure that has risen from 57% in 2004.
Meanwhile, the research found that teenage girls were the most active in blogging, representing 35% of all teen blogs compared with 20% of boys. Pew said the gap had grown between 2004 and 2006 because of increased activity from girls, while older teen girls are the group most likely to blog overall.
Teenage boys were found to be most active on video sites such as YouTube either posting or sharing content, while 57% of teens overall said they watched or shared videos online with friends.
Pew, which produces reports that analyse the impact of the internet on children, families and communities, said teenage boys were twice as likely to post videos online than girls -- 19% of boys do so compared with just 10% of girls.
The full Parent & Teens 2006 Survey can be viewed at http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Teens_Social_Media_Final.pdf
More than half of teenagers in the US have profiles on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, while 64% create and publish content online, according to a new study.
The study, carried out by the Pew Internet & American Life Project from data gathered in 2006, found that 55% of US teens had profiles on social networking sites.
It found that 64% of children aged 12-17 engaged in creating online content, a figure that has risen from 57% in 2004.
Meanwhile, the research found that teenage girls were the most active in blogging, representing 35% of all teen blogs compared with 20% of boys. Pew said the gap had grown between 2004 and 2006 because of increased activity from girls, while older teen girls are the group most likely to blog overall.
Teenage boys were found to be most active on video sites such as YouTube either posting or sharing content, while 57% of teens overall said they watched or shared videos online with friends.
Pew, which produces reports that analyse the impact of the internet on children, families and communities, said teenage boys were twice as likely to post videos online than girls -- 19% of boys do so compared with just 10% of girls.
The full Parent & Teens 2006 Survey can be viewed at http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Teens_Social_Media_Final.pdf
New twist to virtual gifts
Third Sector
International development charity World Vision is using social networking website Facebook and video sharing site YouTube to promote its alternative gift catalogue this Christmas.
Facebook users who want to give an alternative Christmas present to a friend can send them a list of possible gifts and a budget. Facebook will then tell the recipient to pick what they would like. A link to the item on World Vision's online shop is then sent to the giver.
Examples of gifts include a meal for 70 working children in Cambodia in the £5-£15 price range, or 20 chicks and a coop for a family in Sri Lanka in the £31-plus range.
World Vision's tongue-in-cheek YouTube clip follows a fed-up teenager who receives the wrong video game console at Christmas. The film, called No child should have to endure this, aims to make viewers think about their wasteful Christmas shopping habits and how the money could be better spent.
Andrea Russell, communications manager for World Vision, said: "I think we'd be missing a great opportunity if we didn't acknowledge how significant interactive websites like Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and YouTube have become. Having a presence on networking sites also allows us to appeal to a wider audience, including the young."
International development charity World Vision is using social networking website Facebook and video sharing site YouTube to promote its alternative gift catalogue this Christmas.
Facebook users who want to give an alternative Christmas present to a friend can send them a list of possible gifts and a budget. Facebook will then tell the recipient to pick what they would like. A link to the item on World Vision's online shop is then sent to the giver.
Examples of gifts include a meal for 70 working children in Cambodia in the £5-£15 price range, or 20 chicks and a coop for a family in Sri Lanka in the £31-plus range.
World Vision's tongue-in-cheek YouTube clip follows a fed-up teenager who receives the wrong video game console at Christmas. The film, called No child should have to endure this, aims to make viewers think about their wasteful Christmas shopping habits and how the money could be better spent.
Andrea Russell, communications manager for World Vision, said: "I think we'd be missing a great opportunity if we didn't acknowledge how significant interactive websites like Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and YouTube have become. Having a presence on networking sites also allows us to appeal to a wider audience, including the young."
21 December, 2007
High Tech Trash
June is the wet season in Ghana, but here in Accra, the capital, the morning rain has ceased. As the sun heats the humid air, pillars of black smoke begin to rise above the vast Agbogbloshie Market. I follow one plume toward its source, past lettuce and plantain vendors, past stalls of used tires, and through a clanging scrap market where hunched men bash on old alternators and engine blocks. Soon the muddy track is flanked by piles of old TVs, gutted computer cases, and smashed monitors heaped ten feet (three meters) high. Beyond lies a field of fine ash speckled with glints of amber and green—the sharp broken bits of circuit boards. I can see now that the smoke issues not from one fire, but from many small blazes. Dozens of indistinct figures move among the acrid haze, some stirring flames with sticks, others carrying armfuls of brightly colored computer wire. Most are children....
Read the whole article at nationalgeographic.com
19 December, 2007
Silver surfers claim bigger share of online population
The proportion of older people to the overall online population is growing, with the opposite true for under 25s, according to research by Nielsen Online.
Over the last year (October 2006-October 2007) the share of the UK internet population made up by under 25-year-olds has decreased from 29% to 25%, while the share of over 55-year-olds has risen from 16% to 19%.
Overall, the average age of the UK internet population has risen from 35.7 to 37.9 in this period.
The site with the youngest UK online audience is online games portal Miniclip, with an average age of 28.1.
High street retailer Marks & Spencer has the oldest average online age at 46.5.
Five of the 10 online brands with the youngest average age are entertainment sites and four are social networking sites, among them Bebo, Nickelodeon Kids & Family Network and RockYou!
The five online brands with the oldest average age are all familiar high-street brands, including M&S, John Lewis and Nationwide.
Alex Burmaster, internet analyst at Nielsen Online, said that to see such large changes in the course of just a year showed that the internet population is undergoing "a significant ageing process".
He said: "When looking at how a particular audience is composed by age, a change in share -- even by just a few percentage points -- actually represents quite a fundamental shift.
"It will be very interesting to see whether this trend continues over the next 12 months and, if so, whether the types of services and products offered and marketed online adapt to reflect this changing population."
Over the last year (October 2006-October 2007) the share of the UK internet population made up by under 25-year-olds has decreased from 29% to 25%, while the share of over 55-year-olds has risen from 16% to 19%.
Overall, the average age of the UK internet population has risen from 35.7 to 37.9 in this period.
The site with the youngest UK online audience is online games portal Miniclip, with an average age of 28.1.
High street retailer Marks & Spencer has the oldest average online age at 46.5.
Five of the 10 online brands with the youngest average age are entertainment sites and four are social networking sites, among them Bebo, Nickelodeon Kids & Family Network and RockYou!
The five online brands with the oldest average age are all familiar high-street brands, including M&S, John Lewis and Nationwide.
Alex Burmaster, internet analyst at Nielsen Online, said that to see such large changes in the course of just a year showed that the internet population is undergoing "a significant ageing process".
He said: "When looking at how a particular audience is composed by age, a change in share -- even by just a few percentage points -- actually represents quite a fundamental shift.
"It will be very interesting to see whether this trend continues over the next 12 months and, if so, whether the types of services and products offered and marketed online adapt to reflect this changing population."
18 December, 2007
Experian exposes 2008 email ‘hot tips’
Precision Marketing
Dynamic content, remarketing and operational messages are all set to be the biggest trends in email marketing in 2008, according to research by Experian CheetahMail.
The research, based on analysis of campaigns of CheetahMail’s brand name clients, shows that the second half of 2007 saw a 220 per cent increase in the number of email campaigns using dynamic content, which enables brands to send highly targeted communications.
There was also an increase in the number of brands using email to re-engage with lapsed customers and sending email confirmation of purchasing and delivery of goods, which brands use as part of their CRM strategies to keep their customers informed.
Steve Lomax, European managing director of Experian CheetahMail, says: “The three trends we’ve identified for 2008 reflect the fact that email marketing is a cornerstone of brands’ digital and integrated marketing strategies.”
Dynamic content, remarketing and operational messages are all set to be the biggest trends in email marketing in 2008, according to research by Experian CheetahMail.
The research, based on analysis of campaigns of CheetahMail’s brand name clients, shows that the second half of 2007 saw a 220 per cent increase in the number of email campaigns using dynamic content, which enables brands to send highly targeted communications.
There was also an increase in the number of brands using email to re-engage with lapsed customers and sending email confirmation of purchasing and delivery of goods, which brands use as part of their CRM strategies to keep their customers informed.
Steve Lomax, European managing director of Experian CheetahMail, says: “The three trends we’ve identified for 2008 reflect the fact that email marketing is a cornerstone of brands’ digital and integrated marketing strategies.”
17 December, 2007
Outlook not good for email
Mobile texting trumps the use of email among the young, reports Michael Fitzpatrick.
The art of correspondence faces another rude shove towards oblivion: even email is under fire for being "too formal".
Outside of work, SMS and instant messaging are fast becoming the writing tools of choice. Indeed, South Korea - that crystal ball of all our digital tomorrows - has even seen a report that many teenagers have stopped using email altogether. "It's for old people," they say.
A poll of more than 2000 middle, high school and college students, taken recently in Seoul, revealed that more than two-thirds rarely or never use email.
Korea's digital generation is way ahead of even the Japanese in the uptake of new technology. Fifty per cent of South Koreans are signed up to their version of Facebook, called Cyworld, which took off almost a decade before other social networking sites. For most South Koreans, email is fit only for addressing the old, or for business and formal missives.
Even those in their 30s, such as Dr Youngmi Kim, a professor at the University of Edinburgh, says she doesn't use it much when communicating with fellow Koreans.
"I use my Cyworld mini homepage to communicate among Korean close friends. [Cyworld] is faster and it can be used both for private and public use," she says.
It's a global trend but more pronounced in South Korea, says Tomi Ahonen, a communications consultant and the co-author of a new book, Digital Korea. "Korean young adults put it so well. Email is simply outdated and not used between friends and colleagues. The only people you would use mobile email with are the older generation at work. Email? It's so '90s."
According to the poll, mobile texting, instant messaging and the perception that email is "a lot of bother" are all contributing to the end of the email era. Other factors, say the report, are the difficulty of ascertaining if an email has arrived and the lack of immediate response. One young Korean said that texting felt like a ping-pong game and that email was more "like doing homework".
Similar bugbears are driving email use down elsewhere as the twin gods of ease and instant gratification become more dominant globally, Ahonen says. "This phenomenon is not limited to South Korea. We are even seeing the first signs of it in the US - a country that is a leader in email and wireless email, and the laggard in mobile.
"It started with the young abandoning email in favour of texting, and since then the youth preference has spread and is now hitting the mainstream age groups."
The art of correspondence faces another rude shove towards oblivion: even email is under fire for being "too formal".
Outside of work, SMS and instant messaging are fast becoming the writing tools of choice. Indeed, South Korea - that crystal ball of all our digital tomorrows - has even seen a report that many teenagers have stopped using email altogether. "It's for old people," they say.
A poll of more than 2000 middle, high school and college students, taken recently in Seoul, revealed that more than two-thirds rarely or never use email.
Korea's digital generation is way ahead of even the Japanese in the uptake of new technology. Fifty per cent of South Koreans are signed up to their version of Facebook, called Cyworld, which took off almost a decade before other social networking sites. For most South Koreans, email is fit only for addressing the old, or for business and formal missives.
Even those in their 30s, such as Dr Youngmi Kim, a professor at the University of Edinburgh, says she doesn't use it much when communicating with fellow Koreans.
"I use my Cyworld mini homepage to communicate among Korean close friends. [Cyworld] is faster and it can be used both for private and public use," she says.
It's a global trend but more pronounced in South Korea, says Tomi Ahonen, a communications consultant and the co-author of a new book, Digital Korea. "Korean young adults put it so well. Email is simply outdated and not used between friends and colleagues. The only people you would use mobile email with are the older generation at work. Email? It's so '90s."
According to the poll, mobile texting, instant messaging and the perception that email is "a lot of bother" are all contributing to the end of the email era. Other factors, say the report, are the difficulty of ascertaining if an email has arrived and the lack of immediate response. One young Korean said that texting felt like a ping-pong game and that email was more "like doing homework".
Similar bugbears are driving email use down elsewhere as the twin gods of ease and instant gratification become more dominant globally, Ahonen says. "This phenomenon is not limited to South Korea. We are even seeing the first signs of it in the US - a country that is a leader in email and wireless email, and the laggard in mobile.
"It started with the young abandoning email in favour of texting, and since then the youth preference has spread and is now hitting the mainstream age groups."
First eco 'Data Farm' to woo green brands
Precision Marketing
The UK's first eco-friendly data storage complex is to be built in Lockerbie, Scotland, allowing brand-owners nationwide to make their marketing databases green.
The £600m 'Data Farm', which is being developed by Internet Villages International, will be run on fuel generated by a nearby biomass power station and local wind farms.
The 3 million sq ft farm is to be built in a rural environment and will incorporate a development of carbon neutral homes and offices, which will run on waste heat from the site, as well as 20 single storey data centres.
Internet Villages International founder Peter Hewkin says: "The availability of local green electricity, access to super-fast Internet connectivity and support of economic development bodies in Dumfries and Galloway for environmentally sustainable regeneration projects make Lockerbie perfect for this project."
As a result, we anticipate several companies and public sector organisations will locate their data centres at the Lockerbie Data Farm."Work is due to begin on the site in early 2008 and promises to create 500 jobs.
The UK's first eco-friendly data storage complex is to be built in Lockerbie, Scotland, allowing brand-owners nationwide to make their marketing databases green.
The £600m 'Data Farm', which is being developed by Internet Villages International, will be run on fuel generated by a nearby biomass power station and local wind farms.
The 3 million sq ft farm is to be built in a rural environment and will incorporate a development of carbon neutral homes and offices, which will run on waste heat from the site, as well as 20 single storey data centres.
Internet Villages International founder Peter Hewkin says: "The availability of local green electricity, access to super-fast Internet connectivity and support of economic development bodies in Dumfries and Galloway for environmentally sustainable regeneration projects make Lockerbie perfect for this project."
As a result, we anticipate several companies and public sector organisations will locate their data centres at the Lockerbie Data Farm."Work is due to begin on the site in early 2008 and promises to create 500 jobs.
Whitewater offers charities ‘no win, no fee’ service
Precision Marketing
Whitewater, the charity specialist direct marketing agency, is putting its neck on the line by offering its services on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis.
The agency is offering all its existing clients plus ten new charities the chance to have planning, creative and project management fees waived for a new donor acquisition campaign. The charities will only have to pay the fees if they decide to use the creative again.
Charities taking part will be required to brief Whitewater on two warm appeals in 2008 in order to take advantage of the ‘no win, no fee’ offer.
Steve Andrews, managing director at Whitewater, says: “Whitewater has always liked to be a bit unconventional, and do things a little differently. We thought this would be a great way to start the new year. This is a demonstration of our confidence in being able to recruit new donors despite all the talk of doom and gloom across the industry.”
Whitewater, the charity specialist direct marketing agency, is putting its neck on the line by offering its services on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis.
The agency is offering all its existing clients plus ten new charities the chance to have planning, creative and project management fees waived for a new donor acquisition campaign. The charities will only have to pay the fees if they decide to use the creative again.
Charities taking part will be required to brief Whitewater on two warm appeals in 2008 in order to take advantage of the ‘no win, no fee’ offer.
Steve Andrews, managing director at Whitewater, says: “Whitewater has always liked to be a bit unconventional, and do things a little differently. We thought this would be a great way to start the new year. This is a demonstration of our confidence in being able to recruit new donors despite all the talk of doom and gloom across the industry.”
Green innovation conference announced
Design Week
Sustainable Innovation 08, the Sweden-based conference focusing on challenges related to sustainable innovation, technology, product and service design, has launched a call for papers.
The event, set to take place on 27 and 28 October 2008 in Malmo, is organised by The Centre for Sustainable Design at University College for the Creative Arts at Farnham in Surrey, and is part of the Towards Sustainable Product Design series of conferences. It will include papers from academics, consultants, entrepreneurs, investors, technology providers and designers.
Papers that cover thinking relating to sustainable innovation, technology, product and service design and development are being sought. As well as ideas that create new visions, scenarios and stories focused on sustainable innovation.
Sustainable Innovation 08 will provide a range of benefits to speakers and delegates such as a forum for ideas and concepts, presentations, new research and networking.
For more information, visit www.cfsd.org.uk.
Sustainable Innovation 08, the Sweden-based conference focusing on challenges related to sustainable innovation, technology, product and service design, has launched a call for papers.
The event, set to take place on 27 and 28 October 2008 in Malmo, is organised by The Centre for Sustainable Design at University College for the Creative Arts at Farnham in Surrey, and is part of the Towards Sustainable Product Design series of conferences. It will include papers from academics, consultants, entrepreneurs, investors, technology providers and designers.
Papers that cover thinking relating to sustainable innovation, technology, product and service design and development are being sought. As well as ideas that create new visions, scenarios and stories focused on sustainable innovation.
Sustainable Innovation 08 will provide a range of benefits to speakers and delegates such as a forum for ideas and concepts, presentations, new research and networking.
For more information, visit www.cfsd.org.uk.
15 December, 2007
Google debuts knowledge project
BBC News
Google has kicked off a project to create an authoritative store of information about any and every topic.
The search giant has already started inviting people to write about the subject on which they are known to be an expert.
Google said it would not act as editor for the project but will provide the tools and infrastructure for the pages.
Many experts see the initiative as an attack on the widely used Wikipedia communal encyclopaedia.
'Knol'
Writing about the project on the official Google blog, Udi Manber, one of the heads of engineering at the search firm, said it was all about sharing useful knowledge.
By indexing the web, Google strives to make information more easily accessible. However, wrote Mr Manber, not all the information on the web was "well organised to make it easily discoverable".
By getting respected authors to write about their specialism Google hopes to start putting some of that information in better order.
The system will centre around authored articles created with a tool Google has dubbed "knol" - the word denotes a unit of knowledge - that will make webpages with a distinctive livery to identify them as authoritative.
Mr Manber wrote: "A knol on a particular topic is meant to be the first thing someone who searches for this topic for the first time will want to read."
The knol pages will get search rankings to reflect their usefulness. Knols will also come with tools that readers can use to rate the information, add comments, suggest edits or additional content.
Revenue from any adverts on a knol page will be shared with its author.
Industry commentator Nicholas Carr said the knol project was a "head-on competitor" with Wikipedia. He said it was an attempt by Google to knock ad-free Wikipedia entries on similar subjects down the rankings.
Google has kicked off a project to create an authoritative store of information about any and every topic.
The search giant has already started inviting people to write about the subject on which they are known to be an expert.
Google said it would not act as editor for the project but will provide the tools and infrastructure for the pages.
Many experts see the initiative as an attack on the widely used Wikipedia communal encyclopaedia.
'Knol'
Writing about the project on the official Google blog, Udi Manber, one of the heads of engineering at the search firm, said it was all about sharing useful knowledge.
By indexing the web, Google strives to make information more easily accessible. However, wrote Mr Manber, not all the information on the web was "well organised to make it easily discoverable".
By getting respected authors to write about their specialism Google hopes to start putting some of that information in better order.
The system will centre around authored articles created with a tool Google has dubbed "knol" - the word denotes a unit of knowledge - that will make webpages with a distinctive livery to identify them as authoritative.
Mr Manber wrote: "A knol on a particular topic is meant to be the first thing someone who searches for this topic for the first time will want to read."
The knol pages will get search rankings to reflect their usefulness. Knols will also come with tools that readers can use to rate the information, add comments, suggest edits or additional content.
Revenue from any adverts on a knol page will be shared with its author.
Industry commentator Nicholas Carr said the knol project was a "head-on competitor" with Wikipedia. He said it was an attempt by Google to knock ad-free Wikipedia entries on similar subjects down the rankings.
14 December, 2007
New Charity SMS service launched
BulkSMS.co.uk has launched Community.BulkSMS.co.uk – a text messaging service for UK organisations that provide a public service. The service enables charities, faith-based organisations, non-profits and schools to send bulk text messages to large contact lists at a reduced cost.
“Text messaging is an efficient means to communicate with a large number of targeted users instantaneously regardless of their location. In our experience, third sector organisations are eager to explore the use of text messaging to effectively communicate with their staff, members, beneficiaries, stakeholders or the public,” said Dan Perrin, general manager at BulkSMS.co.uk.
As a corporate social responsibility initiative, Community.BulkSMS.co.uk offers a part-sponsored text messaging service to third sector organisations with the proviso that all outgoing messages are appended with the BulkSMS.co.uk tagline. The service provides a cheaper text messaging rate than commercial messaging and uses a free user-friendly software solution.
The Community.BulkSMS.co.uk service is used by third sector organisations such as schools, faith-based organisations, charities and non-profits for sending information services, notifications, reminders, or alerts via text messages.
According to Perrin, text messaging is the most effective way to invite, co-ordinate and to remind large groups of people of campaigns and events. “Messages are received instantaneously and are retained on the recipient's mobile phone. Furthermore, the service is interactive as recipients can reply to text messages.”
For example, charities use bulk messaging to promote fund-raising campaigns supporting child welfare. Faith-based and non-profit organisations use text messaging as a call to action for the community to donate blankets and food to those affected by natural disasters and severe weather conditions. Schools send text notifications to parents to remind them to attend events, return school report cards, and to let them know when children are absent.
“As a business operating in the UK messaging industry, we felt that text messaging services should benefit organisations working in the public’s interest. The launch of Community.BulkSMS.co.uk will provide third sector organisations with cost benefits and enable them to effectively increase their communications reach,” said Perrin.
“Text messaging is an efficient means to communicate with a large number of targeted users instantaneously regardless of their location. In our experience, third sector organisations are eager to explore the use of text messaging to effectively communicate with their staff, members, beneficiaries, stakeholders or the public,” said Dan Perrin, general manager at BulkSMS.co.uk.
As a corporate social responsibility initiative, Community.BulkSMS.co.uk offers a part-sponsored text messaging service to third sector organisations with the proviso that all outgoing messages are appended with the BulkSMS.co.uk tagline. The service provides a cheaper text messaging rate than commercial messaging and uses a free user-friendly software solution.
The Community.BulkSMS.co.uk service is used by third sector organisations such as schools, faith-based organisations, charities and non-profits for sending information services, notifications, reminders, or alerts via text messages.
According to Perrin, text messaging is the most effective way to invite, co-ordinate and to remind large groups of people of campaigns and events. “Messages are received instantaneously and are retained on the recipient's mobile phone. Furthermore, the service is interactive as recipients can reply to text messages.”
For example, charities use bulk messaging to promote fund-raising campaigns supporting child welfare. Faith-based and non-profit organisations use text messaging as a call to action for the community to donate blankets and food to those affected by natural disasters and severe weather conditions. Schools send text notifications to parents to remind them to attend events, return school report cards, and to let them know when children are absent.
“As a business operating in the UK messaging industry, we felt that text messaging services should benefit organisations working in the public’s interest. The launch of Community.BulkSMS.co.uk will provide third sector organisations with cost benefits and enable them to effectively increase their communications reach,” said Perrin.
Facebook opens up: another "platform war" beckons
Guardian Unlimited
In response to Google's OpenSocial, Facebook is opening up its development platform, and Bebo has announced what amounts to the first implementation
Facebook is opening up the Facebook Platform Architecture, "enabling other social sites to use our platform architecture as a model". The social network site says:
In fact, we'll even license the Facebook Platform methods and tags to other platforms. Of course, Facebook Platform will continue to evolve, but by enabling other social sites to use what we've learned, everyone wins -- users get a better experience around the web, developers get access to new audiences, and social sites get more applications.
This is already more than theory. Bebo, which is popular in the UK, has just announced its own Open Application Platform. This is, not coincidentally, based on Facebook. Bebo says:
The Bebo Open Application Platform will be the first in the industry to implement the standards defined by the Facebook Platform, an open development system that enables companies and engineers to extend Facebook's more than 7,000 applications to other social websites.
In other words, there's now a Facebook system that can compete with Google's misleadingly-named OpenSocial, which Google developed in secret then presented as an alternative to Facebook's proprietary system.
There's nothing surprising about this. Facebook opening up was an obvious option and one we discussed while the dust was settling over OpenSocial. So, for now, we're left in a state of tension. It looks as though there will be two foundations for developing and delivering social networking applications: Facebook and OpenSocial. This is a lot better than having 50, for 50 different social network sites. It's also not too bad in the sense that any social networking site can back both platforms (Bebo supported OpenSocial, and Facebook could do so, if it wanted).
The remaining question is whether the two systems will converge -- making life simpler for developers -- or diverge, thus providing some real competiton.
In response to Google's OpenSocial, Facebook is opening up its development platform, and Bebo has announced what amounts to the first implementation
Facebook is opening up the Facebook Platform Architecture, "enabling other social sites to use our platform architecture as a model". The social network site says:
In fact, we'll even license the Facebook Platform methods and tags to other platforms. Of course, Facebook Platform will continue to evolve, but by enabling other social sites to use what we've learned, everyone wins -- users get a better experience around the web, developers get access to new audiences, and social sites get more applications.
This is already more than theory. Bebo, which is popular in the UK, has just announced its own Open Application Platform. This is, not coincidentally, based on Facebook. Bebo says:
The Bebo Open Application Platform will be the first in the industry to implement the standards defined by the Facebook Platform, an open development system that enables companies and engineers to extend Facebook's more than 7,000 applications to other social websites.
In other words, there's now a Facebook system that can compete with Google's misleadingly-named OpenSocial, which Google developed in secret then presented as an alternative to Facebook's proprietary system.
There's nothing surprising about this. Facebook opening up was an obvious option and one we discussed while the dust was settling over OpenSocial. So, for now, we're left in a state of tension. It looks as though there will be two foundations for developing and delivering social networking applications: Facebook and OpenSocial. This is a lot better than having 50, for 50 different social network sites. It's also not too bad in the sense that any social networking site can back both platforms (Bebo supported OpenSocial, and Facebook could do so, if it wanted).
The remaining question is whether the two systems will converge -- making life simpler for developers -- or diverge, thus providing some real competiton.
Internet supercedes high street for over 50s
Prescision Marketing
The over 50s are much less averse to using the internet than stereotypes would suggest, according to a new survey.
The Internet emerged as the favourite method for Christmas shopping amongst people over 50 with Internet access. Online shopping was the preferred method for 28 per cent of respondents, compared to 23 per cent who favoured the high street.
The survey was carried out by Millennium, the direct marketing group which specialises in marketing to the mature. It revealed that the over fifties are opting to shop online because they think it takes the hassle out of shopping. Books were their favourite online purchase with 50 per cent of respondents saying they would chose the Internet over any other outlet to buy a book in future.
The survey author Sarah Robson, research director at Millennium, says: “Retailers should take note that the high street has been superceded by the Internet as the preferred shopping location for the mature market for those who are already online. Those interested in capitalising on the unprecedented wealth held in certain brackets of this demographic need to think carefully about how they approach those online.”
13 December, 2007
Email delivery rates in sharp fall
Brand Republic
Email delivery rates slid significantly between the first and second quarters, accentuating their recent downward trend, according to a new report by the Direct Marketing Association's Email Marketing Council.
Acquisition slid by seven percentage points to 68% while retention levels dropped by the same amount to 80%.
The report identified an email service provider's reputation as the most important factor influencing deliverability of campaigns.
The findings led the DMA to call for the direct marketing industry to place greater importance on factors influencing the delivery of emails.
According to the DMA's latest figures, email delivery rates for acquisition and retention have dropped for the last three quarters in a row. The delivery rate for acquisition in quarter four of 2006 was 92%, while the figure for retention stood at 94%.
The DMA's Email Marketing Council is advising clients to make use of email service providers' spam filters, ensure recipient permission has been obtained, maintain list hygiene and develop good ISP relations.
In addition to email service provider reputation, the report highlighted email content and authentication as the other decisive factors in ensuring delivery rates are kept high.
Despite the continuing fall of acquisition and retention levels, email service providers send an average 50m monthly emails, a figure expected to rise by 65% in the next year.
Skip Fidura, deputy chair of the DMA Email Marketing Council, said: "The first step in any marketing campaign is getting the message to the consumer. Regardless of how good the copy and creative are and how compelling the offer is, a campaign will fail if your target audience never sees the message.
"It's therefore vital that email marketers place more importance on ensuring that a message reaches the inbox."
The full report, 'Email Deliverability: How We Got Here and What Marketer's Should Do About It', is available through the DMA.
Email delivery rates slid significantly between the first and second quarters, accentuating their recent downward trend, according to a new report by the Direct Marketing Association's Email Marketing Council.
Acquisition slid by seven percentage points to 68% while retention levels dropped by the same amount to 80%.
The report identified an email service provider's reputation as the most important factor influencing deliverability of campaigns.
The findings led the DMA to call for the direct marketing industry to place greater importance on factors influencing the delivery of emails.
According to the DMA's latest figures, email delivery rates for acquisition and retention have dropped for the last three quarters in a row. The delivery rate for acquisition in quarter four of 2006 was 92%, while the figure for retention stood at 94%.
The DMA's Email Marketing Council is advising clients to make use of email service providers' spam filters, ensure recipient permission has been obtained, maintain list hygiene and develop good ISP relations.
In addition to email service provider reputation, the report highlighted email content and authentication as the other decisive factors in ensuring delivery rates are kept high.
Despite the continuing fall of acquisition and retention levels, email service providers send an average 50m monthly emails, a figure expected to rise by 65% in the next year.
Skip Fidura, deputy chair of the DMA Email Marketing Council, said: "The first step in any marketing campaign is getting the message to the consumer. Regardless of how good the copy and creative are and how compelling the offer is, a campaign will fail if your target audience never sees the message.
"It's therefore vital that email marketers place more importance on ensuring that a message reaches the inbox."
The full report, 'Email Deliverability: How We Got Here and What Marketer's Should Do About It', is available through the DMA.
Greenpeace takes on gaming giants
BBC News
Greenpeace is hoping to speak to manufacturers via gamersGreenpeace has called on gamers to persuade Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo to make their consoles greener.
According to the environmental campaign group, game console makers have so far "failed to reduce the toxic burden of their products".
It accuses Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony of lagging behind mobile phone and PC manufacturers.
The initiative is part of Greenpeace's campaign to persuade the electronics industry to be greener.
"Game console manufacturers are lagging way behind the makers of mobile phones and PCs who have been reducing the toxic load of the products over the past year," said Zenia Al Hajj, Greenpeace International's toxics campaigner.
"Game consoles contain many of the same components as PCs so manufacturers can do a lot more," she added.
Workers "at risk"
As part of its campaign, Greenpeace has launched a 90-second video featuring some of the iconic games console characters - Microsoft's Master Chief, Nintendo's Mario and Sony's Kratos - competing for the prize of a greener games console.
Gamers can compare how each console meaures up on toxic materials, recycling and energy efficiency, as well as logging their support for the campaign.
The campaign is aimed at the big three game console manufacturers - Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft.
Nintendo said that it is looking to establish a dialogue with Greenpeace but that it adhered to all European standards.
It is signed up to the European WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directive - which makes manufacturers responsible for recycling their goods.
"We make sure that all of our products comply with European standards which we understand are the highest in the world," said a spokesman.
Greenpeace is engaged in a wider campaign to persuade the whole electronics industry to eliminate hazardous chemicals across the board.
It does not believe that current legislation goes far enough and on its hazard hit list are brominated fire retardants and PVC, the use of which it claims can lead to dangerous chemicals building up in the environment and in human and animal tissue.
It said that Chinese and Indian workers in production facilities and scrap yards where goods are dismantled could be at risk.
Nintendo's spokesman said that no PVC was used in the production of its consoles, although he couldn't confirm whether brominated fire retardants were banned.
Leading mobile phone makers, including Motorola, LG, Sony Ericsson and Philips, have all implemented eco-design aspects into their production lines, including reducing the amount of hazardous substances used in their products.
Global warming
Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer, produces a handset every nine seconds. It has decided to implement requirements set out in the EU Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive in all 10 of its factories around the globe.
The RoHS Directive bans six substances (lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, PBB and PDBE) from products that are either made or sold in the EU.
Greenpeace has been busy garnering support for its various initiatives from the web community. Earlier this month it teamed up with teenage social networking site Habbo to find out more about youngsters attitudes to global warming.
50,000 teenagers responded to the survey, with 74% rating global warming over drugs, violence and war as the issue they were most concerned about.
Greenpeace is hoping to speak to manufacturers via gamersGreenpeace has called on gamers to persuade Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo to make their consoles greener.
According to the environmental campaign group, game console makers have so far "failed to reduce the toxic burden of their products".
It accuses Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony of lagging behind mobile phone and PC manufacturers.
The initiative is part of Greenpeace's campaign to persuade the electronics industry to be greener.
"Game console manufacturers are lagging way behind the makers of mobile phones and PCs who have been reducing the toxic load of the products over the past year," said Zenia Al Hajj, Greenpeace International's toxics campaigner.
"Game consoles contain many of the same components as PCs so manufacturers can do a lot more," she added.
Workers "at risk"
As part of its campaign, Greenpeace has launched a 90-second video featuring some of the iconic games console characters - Microsoft's Master Chief, Nintendo's Mario and Sony's Kratos - competing for the prize of a greener games console.
Gamers can compare how each console meaures up on toxic materials, recycling and energy efficiency, as well as logging their support for the campaign.
The campaign is aimed at the big three game console manufacturers - Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft.
Nintendo said that it is looking to establish a dialogue with Greenpeace but that it adhered to all European standards.
It is signed up to the European WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directive - which makes manufacturers responsible for recycling their goods.
"We make sure that all of our products comply with European standards which we understand are the highest in the world," said a spokesman.
Greenpeace is engaged in a wider campaign to persuade the whole electronics industry to eliminate hazardous chemicals across the board.
It does not believe that current legislation goes far enough and on its hazard hit list are brominated fire retardants and PVC, the use of which it claims can lead to dangerous chemicals building up in the environment and in human and animal tissue.
It said that Chinese and Indian workers in production facilities and scrap yards where goods are dismantled could be at risk.
Nintendo's spokesman said that no PVC was used in the production of its consoles, although he couldn't confirm whether brominated fire retardants were banned.
Leading mobile phone makers, including Motorola, LG, Sony Ericsson and Philips, have all implemented eco-design aspects into their production lines, including reducing the amount of hazardous substances used in their products.
Global warming
Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer, produces a handset every nine seconds. It has decided to implement requirements set out in the EU Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive in all 10 of its factories around the globe.
The RoHS Directive bans six substances (lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, PBB and PDBE) from products that are either made or sold in the EU.
Greenpeace has been busy garnering support for its various initiatives from the web community. Earlier this month it teamed up with teenage social networking site Habbo to find out more about youngsters attitudes to global warming.
50,000 teenagers responded to the survey, with 74% rating global warming over drugs, violence and war as the issue they were most concerned about.
12 December, 2007
Cycle routes win £50m public vote
Routes scheme tops lottery vote
A scheme to build a national network of cycle and walking routes has won a £50m lottery grant by topping a public vote.
The Sustrans: Connect2 project, which will improve travel in 79 communities, beat three other environmental groups with 42% of all ballots cast.
The People's £50 Million Lottery is the largest ever publicly-decided award.
Sustrans CEO and founder John Grimshaw said: "The hard work starts now to build those bridges, tunnels, crossings and networks of paths."
Sustainable transport
He added: "There are 79 towns and settlements which are just going to be changed, I think, out of all recognition.
Mr Grimshaw said 6m people live within a mile of the scheme's new routes.
But three other green projects will receive nothing - Eden Project: The Edge; Sherwood: The Living Legend; and Black Country Urban Park.
ITV featured each of the four proposed initiatives, and members of the public were able to vote by phone and online before the poll ended on Monday.
The £50m will be handed to Sustrans - a sustainable transport charity - for the Connect2 scheme over five years from 2008.
The project will cost a total of £140m and aims to link up previously severed communities with cycle paths and walkways.
Sir Clive Booth, chair of the Big Lottery Fund, which allocates Lottery grants, said the Sustrans project had topped the poll convincingly.
"It really won hands-down. What did it was that public support was terrific," he said.
"Given there were four projects, getting half the vote was a big achievement. I think it has captured people's imaginations because it is going to affect their lives right across the UK."
A scheme to build a national network of cycle and walking routes has won a £50m lottery grant by topping a public vote.
The Sustrans: Connect2 project, which will improve travel in 79 communities, beat three other environmental groups with 42% of all ballots cast.
The People's £50 Million Lottery is the largest ever publicly-decided award.
Sustrans CEO and founder John Grimshaw said: "The hard work starts now to build those bridges, tunnels, crossings and networks of paths."
Sustainable transport
He added: "There are 79 towns and settlements which are just going to be changed, I think, out of all recognition.
Mr Grimshaw said 6m people live within a mile of the scheme's new routes.
But three other green projects will receive nothing - Eden Project: The Edge; Sherwood: The Living Legend; and Black Country Urban Park.
ITV featured each of the four proposed initiatives, and members of the public were able to vote by phone and online before the poll ended on Monday.
The £50m will be handed to Sustrans - a sustainable transport charity - for the Connect2 scheme over five years from 2008.
The project will cost a total of £140m and aims to link up previously severed communities with cycle paths and walkways.
Sir Clive Booth, chair of the Big Lottery Fund, which allocates Lottery grants, said the Sustrans project had topped the poll convincingly.
"It really won hands-down. What did it was that public support was terrific," he said.
"Given there were four projects, getting half the vote was a big achievement. I think it has captured people's imaginations because it is going to affect their lives right across the UK."
'eBay for international development' to launch in UK
Professional Fundraising
Global Giving, the US-based online marketplace that connects donors directly to grassroots charity projects in the developing world, is planning to launch in the UK in spring 2008 with former eBay for Charity chief Sharath Jeevan at its helm.
The US version of Global Giving, which describes itself as an ‘eBay for international development’, has generated over US$7m for global projects since its launch in 2001 and in the UK the organisation aims to raise £5m by 2011.
Visitors to the site can choose to donate to a list of grassroots projects, some run by local NGOs and some by larger development charities. Projects currently in search of funds include a pedal-power scheme in Nepal, a microcredit loan scheme for women in Bosnia, and a call for donations from the World Food Programme in Niger.
The US and UK versions of Global Giving will be virtually the same, with most of the projects uploaded on the US site available in the UK and vice versa.
A handful of UK-based NGOs have already used Global Giving in the US, including the Karuna Trust, which has raised over US$7,000 via the site. The UK version will target NGOs of all sizes based in the UK and is also in active discussions with 12 UK-based international NGOs interested in being project partners for the UK launch.
Jeevan (pictured), who is to be the chief executive of Global Giving UK, said: “In addition to this fundraising aspect, we also hope to play a broader role in increasing the UK public’s broader awareness of international development issues, and in providing a capacity-building role for the international development sector in the UK.”
Global Giving, which is in the process of registering as a charity in the UK, has been supported by management consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton, which is providing it with office space and infrastructure in central London.
It is also looking to follow the lead of the organisation in the US which is supported by companies including Ford, Gap, The North Face and Yahoo!, and is in talks with four other potential corporate partners about securing future support to run the venture in the UK.
To see the US site visit: www.globalgiving.co.uk
Global Giving, the US-based online marketplace that connects donors directly to grassroots charity projects in the developing world, is planning to launch in the UK in spring 2008 with former eBay for Charity chief Sharath Jeevan at its helm.
The US version of Global Giving, which describes itself as an ‘eBay for international development’, has generated over US$7m for global projects since its launch in 2001 and in the UK the organisation aims to raise £5m by 2011.
Visitors to the site can choose to donate to a list of grassroots projects, some run by local NGOs and some by larger development charities. Projects currently in search of funds include a pedal-power scheme in Nepal, a microcredit loan scheme for women in Bosnia, and a call for donations from the World Food Programme in Niger.
The US and UK versions of Global Giving will be virtually the same, with most of the projects uploaded on the US site available in the UK and vice versa.
A handful of UK-based NGOs have already used Global Giving in the US, including the Karuna Trust, which has raised over US$7,000 via the site. The UK version will target NGOs of all sizes based in the UK and is also in active discussions with 12 UK-based international NGOs interested in being project partners for the UK launch.
Jeevan (pictured), who is to be the chief executive of Global Giving UK, said: “In addition to this fundraising aspect, we also hope to play a broader role in increasing the UK public’s broader awareness of international development issues, and in providing a capacity-building role for the international development sector in the UK.”
Global Giving, which is in the process of registering as a charity in the UK, has been supported by management consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton, which is providing it with office space and infrastructure in central London.
It is also looking to follow the lead of the organisation in the US which is supported by companies including Ford, Gap, The North Face and Yahoo!, and is in talks with four other potential corporate partners about securing future support to run the venture in the UK.
To see the US site visit: www.globalgiving.co.uk
UK is a nation of social networking obsessives
Brand Republic
UK adults spend more time on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace than their European neighbours, with as many as one in four adults saying they regularly log on to the sites, according to an Ofcom report.
The UK adults who visit the sites spend an average of 5.3 hours each month on them and return to them an average of 23 times a month.
The analysis is matched by the investment made by advertisers in the UK, where companies spend more money per person on internet advertising than any other country. The UK currently spends £33 per person, twice as much as France, Germany and Italy combined.
The finding is one of many that shows the UK is ahead of its European counterparts in terms of the latest digital trends.
The report compares the UK with eight European countries as well as Japan, Canada and the US. It was carried out to help determine future policies, provide information to the UK advertising and media industry, and assess where the UK market stands on a global scale.
Ofcom has also researched how internet audiences around the world are broken down by gender. Across all the countries studied the divide is 52% women to 48% men.
In the UK, the split is 50-50, except in the 18-34 age group, where far more women are surfing the net.
Ofcom has suggested this pattern is related to the increasing popularity of social networking sites.
Other findings revealed that Europeans watch less TV than the Americans and Japanese. In the UK, the average is 25.2 hours a week, or 3.5 hours a day. That is less than Italy and Spain but more than Germany and Ireland.
People in the UK also listen to more radio than in any of the other eleven countries surveyed, while the medium is least popular in Japan.
Ed Richards, Ofcom chief executive said: "The report shows that convergence, bundling and the move to digital communications is a powerful global phenomenon.
"It's important to understand international comparisons so Ofcom can develop better policies to serve the interests of consumers and citizens in the UK."
UK adults spend more time on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace than their European neighbours, with as many as one in four adults saying they regularly log on to the sites, according to an Ofcom report.
The UK adults who visit the sites spend an average of 5.3 hours each month on them and return to them an average of 23 times a month.
The analysis is matched by the investment made by advertisers in the UK, where companies spend more money per person on internet advertising than any other country. The UK currently spends £33 per person, twice as much as France, Germany and Italy combined.
The finding is one of many that shows the UK is ahead of its European counterparts in terms of the latest digital trends.
The report compares the UK with eight European countries as well as Japan, Canada and the US. It was carried out to help determine future policies, provide information to the UK advertising and media industry, and assess where the UK market stands on a global scale.
Ofcom has also researched how internet audiences around the world are broken down by gender. Across all the countries studied the divide is 52% women to 48% men.
In the UK, the split is 50-50, except in the 18-34 age group, where far more women are surfing the net.
Ofcom has suggested this pattern is related to the increasing popularity of social networking sites.
Other findings revealed that Europeans watch less TV than the Americans and Japanese. In the UK, the average is 25.2 hours a week, or 3.5 hours a day. That is less than Italy and Spain but more than Germany and Ireland.
People in the UK also listen to more radio than in any of the other eleven countries surveyed, while the medium is least popular in Japan.
Ed Richards, Ofcom chief executive said: "The report shows that convergence, bundling and the move to digital communications is a powerful global phenomenon.
"It's important to understand international comparisons so Ofcom can develop better policies to serve the interests of consumers and citizens in the UK."
PPC shot down by SEO experts
Experts in Search Engine Optimisation dismissed PPC as far less likely to bring about results in a debate last night (11 December).
The "B2B Marketing Debate" saw SEO exponents and Pay Per Click champions clash over effectiveness and results.
The debate, at The English Speaking Union in London, saw head of search at Bigmouth Media Andrew Girdwood argue that organic results were often perceived as more directly relevant, with a lower overall cost. He said: "“People don’t want to put more money in. For B2B campaigns SEO has a definite advantage over PPC.”"
Periscopex co-founder Simon Norris defended PPC as a marketing tool and said that its plus points were that it was easy to change, start, stop and completely transparent. He asserted that PPC was a better, more targeted way to gain leads.
Stuart Small, industry leader, business and industrial markets at Google, backed up the argument and said that with 85% of all B2B purchases starting in a search engine, paid search ads were vital to any business. He added that Google sees 80% of searchers clicking on organic results, with 20% clicking on search ads.
While the "black art" of SEO was criticised Girdwood argued that Google was excellent at filtering spam out of the index and said: “Google does an excellent job at this. ‘Gaming’ the search engine is just no longer possible the way it used to be.”
Norris also claimed that Google was trying to increase the number of ads clicked on by searchers and that personalisation changed the ads shown based on user intention. “That is not true” said Stuart Small from Google. “Google is very careful about privacy and we do not change ads based on people being logged on to Google. That is completely wrong.”
More people are visiting charity websites, according to research
The proportion of people visiting charity websites has leapt by a third in the past nine months, according to research by think tank nfpSynergy.
It found that the proportion of people who said they had visited a charity website in the past six months rose from 23 per cent in February to 30 per cent in October. The figure almost doubled in the past five years, from 16 per cent.
The findings come from nfpSynergy's regular survey of 1,000 people over the age of 16.
Women in the survey were the most likely to visit charity websites - 34 per cent did so, compared with 26 per cent of men. For people aged between 16 and 24, the figure was 41 per cent, compared with 18 per cent of the 55 to 64 age group.
Volunteers were almost twice as likely to surf the net for voluntary sector websites, with 49 per cent saying they did so, compared with 25 per cent of non-volunteers.
"Five years ago it was seen as a good thing for charities to have websites - now it's essential," said Joe Saxton, co-founder of nfpSynergy. "Having a website is a particularly good way of reaching younger supporters.
"Some of the increase is because people are surfing the net a lot more, but charities have also become better at marketing their websites and are more innovative."
Saxton said that as well as improving their own websites, charities are getting better at using other sites, such as MySpace and Second Life, to reach new audiences.
Dean Russell, digital marketing consultant at Precedent Communications, agreed. "Even smaller charities are beginning to realise they need to have a web presence," he said. "The sector is getting better at engaging audiences, but there's room for improvement.
"The bigger charities, such as the NSPCC and the British Heart Foundation, are investing more money online - and it shows. People are seeing it as an important investment."
Database Intergration
By Sue Fidler, Third Sector, 12 December 2007
Sue Fidler offers some tips for website and database integration.
The holy grail of database management is to minimise data entry - it saves time, resources and energy, and cuts down on errors when typing in from handwritten or copied data. Over the past few years this has become easier. Many of the fundraising, events and membership databases now have web forms and data-capture systems.
When considering a new database, it is essential to consider the medium- to long-term requirements of data-capture via the website - it is undoubtedly the future as we communicate more and more with supporters via electronic media. So here are some questions you should be asking.
How do the database and website talk to each other? Do you post forms onto the website and transfer the data to the database, or does the database produce the forms and the data get written straight back?
What are the IT and security implications of passing the data from web to database? If the database sits on your internal server, what does that mean for firewalls in terms of accepting the data from the website?
What can you put on your website? Many fundraising databases allow donation capture online, but what about questionnaires, job applications or event bookings?
What control do you have over the look and feel of the forms?
Web integration may not be the main reason for buying a new database, but it should be one of the deciding factors in terms of which one you choose. Ultimately, you need to be able to post all your data-capture forms on your website, and if you can do it through one system you will improve the user experience and save yourself a lot of time and effort.
And if the organisation needs more than a fundraising database to fulfil its needs, consider using one of the new breed of web-based systems.
- Sue Fidler is an independent charity ICT and internet consultant.
Sue Fidler offers some tips for website and database integration.
The holy grail of database management is to minimise data entry - it saves time, resources and energy, and cuts down on errors when typing in from handwritten or copied data. Over the past few years this has become easier. Many of the fundraising, events and membership databases now have web forms and data-capture systems.
When considering a new database, it is essential to consider the medium- to long-term requirements of data-capture via the website - it is undoubtedly the future as we communicate more and more with supporters via electronic media. So here are some questions you should be asking.
How do the database and website talk to each other? Do you post forms onto the website and transfer the data to the database, or does the database produce the forms and the data get written straight back?
What are the IT and security implications of passing the data from web to database? If the database sits on your internal server, what does that mean for firewalls in terms of accepting the data from the website?
What can you put on your website? Many fundraising databases allow donation capture online, but what about questionnaires, job applications or event bookings?
What control do you have over the look and feel of the forms?
Web integration may not be the main reason for buying a new database, but it should be one of the deciding factors in terms of which one you choose. Ultimately, you need to be able to post all your data-capture forms on your website, and if you can do it through one system you will improve the user experience and save yourself a lot of time and effort.
And if the organisation needs more than a fundraising database to fulfil its needs, consider using one of the new breed of web-based systems.
- Sue Fidler is an independent charity ICT and internet consultant.
Database Intergration
By Sue Fidler, Third Sector, 12 December 2007
Sue Fidler offers some tips for website and database integration.
The holy grail of database management is to minimise data entry - it saves time, resources and energy, and cuts down on errors when typing in from handwritten or copied data. Over the past few years this has become easier. Many of the fundraising, events and membership databases now have web forms and data-capture systems.
When considering a new database, it is essential to consider the medium- to long-term requirements of data-capture via the website - it is undoubtedly the future as we communicate more and more with supporters via electronic media. So here are some questions you should be asking.
How do the database and website talk to each other? Do you post forms onto the website and transfer the data to the database, or does the database produce the forms and the data get written straight back?
What are the IT and security implications of passing the data from web to database? If the database sits on your internal server, what does that mean for firewalls in terms of accepting the data from the website?
What can you put on your website? Many fundraising databases allow donation capture online, but what about questionnaires, job applications or event bookings?
What control do you have over the look and feel of the forms?
Web integration may not be the main reason for buying a new database, but it should be one of the deciding factors in terms of which one you choose. Ultimately, you need to be able to post all your data-capture forms on your website, and if you can do it through one system you will improve the user experience and save yourself a lot of time and effort.
And if the organisation needs more than a fundraising database to fulfil its needs, consider using one of the new breed of web-based systems.
- Sue Fidler is an independent charity ICT and internet consultant.
Sue Fidler offers some tips for website and database integration.
The holy grail of database management is to minimise data entry - it saves time, resources and energy, and cuts down on errors when typing in from handwritten or copied data. Over the past few years this has become easier. Many of the fundraising, events and membership databases now have web forms and data-capture systems.
When considering a new database, it is essential to consider the medium- to long-term requirements of data-capture via the website - it is undoubtedly the future as we communicate more and more with supporters via electronic media. So here are some questions you should be asking.
How do the database and website talk to each other? Do you post forms onto the website and transfer the data to the database, or does the database produce the forms and the data get written straight back?
What are the IT and security implications of passing the data from web to database? If the database sits on your internal server, what does that mean for firewalls in terms of accepting the data from the website?
What can you put on your website? Many fundraising databases allow donation capture online, but what about questionnaires, job applications or event bookings?
What control do you have over the look and feel of the forms?
Web integration may not be the main reason for buying a new database, but it should be one of the deciding factors in terms of which one you choose. Ultimately, you need to be able to post all your data-capture forms on your website, and if you can do it through one system you will improve the user experience and save yourself a lot of time and effort.
And if the organisation needs more than a fundraising database to fulfil its needs, consider using one of the new breed of web-based systems.
- Sue Fidler is an independent charity ICT and internet consultant.
11 December, 2007
Every human has rights
Design WeekA global campaign to raise awareness of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights launches today, with an identity and design strategy by Start Creative.
The campaign, entitled ‘Every human has rights’, aims to pull together the efforts of a number of partner organisations including Amnesty International, Unicef, Action Aid and Save the Children.
Start creative director Jonathan Cummings explains that one of the key aims of the campaign, which will run for a year, is to gather a billion signatures, as a show of support for human rights, particularly in areas of the world where governments have a poor track record on human rights issues.
Start, which was appointed to the project two months ago without a pitch, has worked closely with Robert Campbell, creative director of charity Virgin Unite, which is supporting the campaign.
Start has created the branding for the campaign, as well as a website, http://www.everyhumanhasrights.org/, and a brand tool kit that can be used by partner organisations in the campaign.
The strapline, ‘Every human has rights’, has been devised by Campbell. Darren Whittingham, co-founder and group executive creative director of Start says, ‘The importance of getting this message across to the world, and its potential impact, made it in many ways the most challenging piece of design we have ever undertaken.’
‘The campaign identity puts the emphasis on the main subject – human rights – and is hand-cut and screened printed [with typography by illustrator Rose Stallard]. The creative strategy we’ve used aims to challenge the statement “Every human has rights” through the use of a question mark illustrating human rights violations in specific territories. The execution is simple and straight to the point. We also created a bespoke font for the campaign that will be post-scripted into different languages,’ he adds.
The campaign is the brainchild of a group of global leaders, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, Graca Machel and former Irish president and United Nations high commissioner for human rights Mary Robinson, who came together earlier this year to form The Elders, with the common purpose of raising awareness of global human rights.
Start also designed the identity for The Elders in July this year.
The campaign, entitled ‘Every human has rights’, aims to pull together the efforts of a number of partner organisations including Amnesty International, Unicef, Action Aid and Save the Children.
Start creative director Jonathan Cummings explains that one of the key aims of the campaign, which will run for a year, is to gather a billion signatures, as a show of support for human rights, particularly in areas of the world where governments have a poor track record on human rights issues.
Start, which was appointed to the project two months ago without a pitch, has worked closely with Robert Campbell, creative director of charity Virgin Unite, which is supporting the campaign.
Start has created the branding for the campaign, as well as a website, http://www.everyhumanhasrights.org/, and a brand tool kit that can be used by partner organisations in the campaign.
The strapline, ‘Every human has rights’, has been devised by Campbell. Darren Whittingham, co-founder and group executive creative director of Start says, ‘The importance of getting this message across to the world, and its potential impact, made it in many ways the most challenging piece of design we have ever undertaken.’
‘The campaign identity puts the emphasis on the main subject – human rights – and is hand-cut and screened printed [with typography by illustrator Rose Stallard]. The creative strategy we’ve used aims to challenge the statement “Every human has rights” through the use of a question mark illustrating human rights violations in specific territories. The execution is simple and straight to the point. We also created a bespoke font for the campaign that will be post-scripted into different languages,’ he adds.
The campaign is the brainchild of a group of global leaders, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, Graca Machel and former Irish president and United Nations high commissioner for human rights Mary Robinson, who came together earlier this year to form The Elders, with the common purpose of raising awareness of global human rights.
Start also designed the identity for The Elders in July this year.
LinkedIn responds to Facebook
Reuters
LinkedIn, an Internet social network for professionals, will open up its service on Monday to outside software developers, starting with BusinessWeek magazine, to transform itself from an online contacts and referral database into an indispensable daily tool for business users.
The Mountain View, California, company faces stiff competition from the much larger Facebook, which has attracted a zealous base of users from college students and teens to corporate professionals seeking to connect with their business networks.
Unlike Facebook or News Corp's more entertainment-driven MySpace, the Web's largest social network, LinkedIn targets professionals.
The company, which was the fastest-growing social network in October, has attracted about 17 million registered users globally and about 5 million unique visitors in the United States in October.
It now aims to court developers through its Intelligent Applications platform program.
The program will let outside developers create software for LinkedIn as well as embed features of LinkedIn, such as finding your business contacts, directly from partner Web sites.
LinkedIn is also participating in Google Inc's OpenSocial developer network that seeks to create a way for all developers to write software that will work on all platforms. MySpace is also a member of OpenSocial.
Unlike rivals, which have created similar programs to court the Web's vast community of software writers, developers and applications for LinkedIn will need approval by LinkedIn before they are deployed, executives said.
The partnership with McGraw-Hill Co's BusinessWeek will link keywords, such as company names, to the LinkedIn service. Visitors to the BusinessWeek site, who place their mouse pointers over certain keywords will trigger a pop-up box detailing how many of their LinkedIn contacts are related to the company or keyword.
A demonstration of this feature made it easy to see why rumors surfaced last month over News Corp Chairman Rupert Murdoch's interest in buying the service, which a source told Reuters last week was simply not true. The two are in discussions for partnership opportunities, the source said earlier.
ACCENT ON EFFICIENCY
"What we are trying to do is make professionals more productive by making them able to find one another, learn more about each other and communicate efficiently with each other," LinkedIn Chief Executive Dan Nye said in an interview. "It's not a place where you waste two hours of your time trying to find a date."
Nye declined comment on the rumors and said, "We believe we're building a company that's changing the world. We are very excited about doing it independently."
The launch is part of a broad plan to revamp the service to fend off larger rivals such as Facebook.
To do so, LinkedIn will also borrow popular ideas such as Facebook's "News Feeds" that will spell out the daily activities of their contacts as well as drag in relevant news stories from 10,000 publishers and blogs, the company said.
One analyst said LinkedIn's approach to developers would likely help assure quality control to the types of applications that would appeal to niches of users within the network.
That's in contrast to Facebook, whose thousands of developers since it threw open its doors to outside program writers earlier this year have flooded the service with software that spans the gamut from useful communications tools to silly time wasters, such as giving users the ability to throw software farm animals at each other.
"I do think this platform will be a success," Forrester analyst Jeremiah Owyang said.
But Owyang said LinkedIn's bid to make its homepage a daily stop for business users faces challenges.
"People still think of it as a network utility and they're trying to be a daily information portal."
LinkedIn, an Internet social network for professionals, will open up its service on Monday to outside software developers, starting with BusinessWeek magazine, to transform itself from an online contacts and referral database into an indispensable daily tool for business users.
The Mountain View, California, company faces stiff competition from the much larger Facebook, which has attracted a zealous base of users from college students and teens to corporate professionals seeking to connect with their business networks.
Unlike Facebook or News Corp's more entertainment-driven MySpace, the Web's largest social network, LinkedIn targets professionals.
The company, which was the fastest-growing social network in October, has attracted about 17 million registered users globally and about 5 million unique visitors in the United States in October.
It now aims to court developers through its Intelligent Applications platform program.
The program will let outside developers create software for LinkedIn as well as embed features of LinkedIn, such as finding your business contacts, directly from partner Web sites.
LinkedIn is also participating in Google Inc's OpenSocial developer network that seeks to create a way for all developers to write software that will work on all platforms. MySpace is also a member of OpenSocial.
Unlike rivals, which have created similar programs to court the Web's vast community of software writers, developers and applications for LinkedIn will need approval by LinkedIn before they are deployed, executives said.
The partnership with McGraw-Hill Co's BusinessWeek will link keywords, such as company names, to the LinkedIn service. Visitors to the BusinessWeek site, who place their mouse pointers over certain keywords will trigger a pop-up box detailing how many of their LinkedIn contacts are related to the company or keyword.
A demonstration of this feature made it easy to see why rumors surfaced last month over News Corp Chairman Rupert Murdoch's interest in buying the service, which a source told Reuters last week was simply not true. The two are in discussions for partnership opportunities, the source said earlier.
ACCENT ON EFFICIENCY
"What we are trying to do is make professionals more productive by making them able to find one another, learn more about each other and communicate efficiently with each other," LinkedIn Chief Executive Dan Nye said in an interview. "It's not a place where you waste two hours of your time trying to find a date."
Nye declined comment on the rumors and said, "We believe we're building a company that's changing the world. We are very excited about doing it independently."
The launch is part of a broad plan to revamp the service to fend off larger rivals such as Facebook.
To do so, LinkedIn will also borrow popular ideas such as Facebook's "News Feeds" that will spell out the daily activities of their contacts as well as drag in relevant news stories from 10,000 publishers and blogs, the company said.
One analyst said LinkedIn's approach to developers would likely help assure quality control to the types of applications that would appeal to niches of users within the network.
That's in contrast to Facebook, whose thousands of developers since it threw open its doors to outside program writers earlier this year have flooded the service with software that spans the gamut from useful communications tools to silly time wasters, such as giving users the ability to throw software farm animals at each other.
"I do think this platform will be a success," Forrester analyst Jeremiah Owyang said.
But Owyang said LinkedIn's bid to make its homepage a daily stop for business users faces challenges.
"People still think of it as a network utility and they're trying to be a daily information portal."
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