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?SPAM KING?: 0. Microsoft: 7
Ex-?Spam King? Scott Richter, once reputed to be one of the top three spammers in the world, has bit the dust, writes Deepak Mankar.
“The essential American soul,” wrote DH Lawrence in Studies in Classic American Literature (1923), “is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted.” (Chapter 5: Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Novels)http://xroads.virginia.edu. He made this observation long after the pioneers had thoroughly wiped out the Native Indians and enslaved the Afro-Americans.
The American behaviour afterwards did not show any change for the better in the status of the American soul. Witness how atrociously they behaved in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. Like the proverbial Big Bully. After I wrote last week about the recent spin doctoring coup for Bush (‘SHEER GENIUS! The US Prez as Homo sapiens. Well, almost.’), a parallel again from the American landscape occurred to me. Remember ‘Daddy’ Oliver Warbucks (literally, war profiteer) from Harold Gray’s Little Orphan Annie? Don’t you think calling him ‘Daddy’ thereby making a semblance of a man out of a war monger is akin to the ‘Desperate Housewives’ ploy for Bush?http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Orphan_Annie. Read about the Bush spin doctoring coup:http://www.hindustantimes.com.
‘SPAM KING’: 0. Microsoft: 7.
Ex-‘Spam King’ Scott Richter, once reputed to be one of the top three spammers in the world, has bit the dust. In the boxing ring of a law court, that is. In addition to a $7 million cash payout, Richter has accepted monitoring for compliance with the settlement by letting Microsoft peruse "certain categories of records" for three years. Microsoft had sued Richter and his company, OptinRealBig.com LLC, in December 2003, for violations of Washington state anti-spam law. Richter has since reformed his practices and is no longer considered a spammer.
In fact, his name has been struck from the Registry Of Known Spam Operations. In other words, will the new technology be the new technology will be “a lucrative asset or a fearsome competitor”?http://www.cbronline.com.
IPTV. All TV. No ads.
IPTV, or Internet Protocol Television, uses a two-way digital broadcast signal. It is sent through a switched telephone or cable network by way of a broadband connection, along with a set top box programmed with software that can handle viewer requests to access media sources. The television is connected to the set top box. It handles the task of decoding the IP video and converts it into standard television signals. The Switched Video Service (SVS) system allows viewers to access broadcast network channels, subscription services, and movies on demand.http://www.webopedia.com. At the July-end CTAM (Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing) Summit in Philadelphia, the questions on every delegate’s lips were: “Will IPTV upend cable’s distribution equilibrium? Or is it the Rosetta Stone that turns cable operators into phone companies? Could be both, as it turns out. But what does that mean for advertisers -- and why should they care?” A panelist, Ed Graczyk, Marketing Director (Microsoft TV), said: "There's no reason I'll ever need to see an ad for a Craftmatic Adjustable Bed again."http://www.adage.com.
NINE OUT OF TEN. US teens on the Net.
A Pew Internet & American Life Project research conducted in October and November of 2004 found the number of teenagers using the Internet had grown 24% in the last four years and 87% of those between the ages of 12 and 17 were online. Compared to four years ago, teens' use of the Internet has intensified and broadened as they log on more often and do more things when they are online. Email is seen by them as a tool for communicating with ‘adults’ such as teachers, institutions like schools, and as a way to convey lengthy and detailed information to large groups, found the researchers. And, IM (instant messaging) is used for everyday casual to serious conversations with friends and private exchanges. Pew said two-thirds of U.S. adults now use the Internet. Download PDF of the report at:http://www.pewinternet.org.
ET TU, BIG BLUE? Podcasting’s latest convert.
IBM’s arrived. On the podcasting scene, that is. http://www.ibm.com. "IBM Investor Relations presents a unique audio series entitled 'IBM (IBM) and the Future' on key business and technology topics," explains the company's Web site. The first program, 21 minutes long, has software experts explaining how voice-recognition technologies, new user interfaces and sensing technologies are changing the way cars are designed, built, driven and even insured.
Big Blue has joined Pepsi and General Motors in producing audio programs investors and customer can download, learning about the companies, their products and their plans. It's likely more companies will join the podcast parade, believes Ted Schadler, an analyst with Forrester Research Inc. However, "Right now, podcasting is more experimentation than anything else," he said, according to Newsfactor Technology News. Schadler also predicts there will be "a flurry of material of all kinds, but then a slow tail off."
BLOGGING’S NEWEST ‘APPRENTICE’? Trump’s the moniker.
Donald Trump’s Web log is a compendium of ideas and opinions, his own as well as from his circle of experts. The billionaire's blog is tied to Trump University, an online education Web site launched in the spring. "It's another channel to get his message out and it gives him a forum to reach his audience," said Michael Sexton, President, Trump University. Initial postings from Trump are consistent with his public image. "The glamour and grandeur of my buildings and my life are no mere trappings," he writes in his immodest Trumpesque vein. http://donaldtrump.trumpuniversity.com/.
A: ONE OUT OF SIX. Q: How many US blog readers?
New research suggests advertisers may ignore Web logs at their own peril. That seems to be the lesson flowing from ComScore Media Metrix’s readership research study, commissioned by Six Apart Inc., the blog software company, and Gawker Media, among its study panel of consumers. It reported that 1 out of 6 Americans read a blog in the first quarter of the year. 50 million U.S. Internet users visited blog sites.
Five hosting services for blogs each had more than 5 million unique visitors in Q1 2005 and four individual blogs had more than 1 million visitors each. Of the 400 biggest blogs, blogs focused on news and politics were most popular; followed by ‘hipster’ and lifestyle blogs, tech blogs and blogs written by women. Compared to the average Internet user, blog readers were significantly more likely to live in wealthier households, be younger and access the Web via high-speed connection. Blog readers visited nearly twice as many Web pages as the average Internet user and they were much more likely to shop online. Please note, however, that Jason Calacanis, whose Weblogs Inc. competes with Gawker for advertising, is upset that his network of blogs was not included in the research project. ComScore's audience estimates are inaccurate, he claims, and, on his own blog, hints at a bias in the reporting in favor of a sponsor.http://www.comscore.com. This column’s last blog coverage was athttp://www.hindustantimes.com. (‘SPECIALLY FOR BLOGGERS. Free legal guide.’)
That's all for now though there's plenty more out there. Join me again next week, same place.
Copyright (c) 2001- 2005 by Deepak Mankar. All rights reserved. Deepak Mankar, an advertising practitioner on the creative side since 1965, is also intensely passionate about the web and web content creation. Read his online articles athttp://www.asiaondemand.com/. Website:http://www.addgandhi.com/original/. You may e-mail him atdmankar@bom8.vsnl.net.in.
