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In Today's Issue:
Quote: Esther Dyson
News: Electronic Stamps
Facts: Top 15 Internet properties
Tip:
Characteristics of successful web sites
Biz Sites: 1. Mountain Arts
2. Recommend-it
Term: What is ADSL and why
is it important?
Ripple Rock: Search engines win court challenge
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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
** "The fundamental talent is creativity-whether artistic or
intellectual.
As the world becomes faster moving, companies will stay ahead not with
proprietary technology, but with a constant flow of new technologies and
ideas."
--Esther Dyson
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LATE BREAKING NEWS:
**Electronic Stamps
American business people, tired of long lines at the post office will be able to purchase a block of postage online this fall. The U.S. Postal Service announced this week that it will team up with E-Stamp and stamps.com to offer a computer-generated stamp. The stamp will be a boon to small businesses, which often do large numbers of mailings, but not enough to justify the purchase of postage meters. Users will initially purchase the software and sign a licensing agreement. Once they are set up though, users will be able to add credit to their electronic stamp vault through online electronic fund transfers from their bank account.
Source: Cnet News, July 15, 1999
Analysis/Comment from the CyberSisters:
This may not effect those of us not in the U.S. immediately, but this
is just another indication of how much of day-to-day business is moving
onto the Internet, and how quickly. It will be interesting to watch how
this will be implemented and how fast businesses begin to use it. From
our perspective this is a web application that is much needed, and we
expect
that it will take off. For those of us outside of the U.S., let's hope
that other countries follow suit.
For our Canadian Subscribers:
Canada Post and Cebra Inc will be launching the ELECTRONIC POST OFFICE
(tm) later this summer. This new software tool will allow Canadian
businesses
and consumers to receive and view all kinds of mail on the Internet,
including
bills, correspondence, advertising, statements, government information,
publications and forms.
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FACTOID OF THE DAY:
For the week of July 4, 1999, the top 15 web site properties on the net. They are ranked in order of total audience.
1. AOL web sites
2. Yahoo
3. MSN
4. Lycos Network
5. GO Network
6. Excite Network
7. Microsoft
8. Time Warner
9. Blue Mountain Arts
10. AltaVista
11. EBay
12. Amazon
13. Snap
14. AT&T
15. Xoom
Source: http://www.nielsen-netratings.com/weekly.htm
Comment from the Cybersisters
You may not have the budget of the big players listed here, but there are lot's of ideas that can be adapted for a smaller budget. All you need is web savvy and lots of creativity. See our TIP section below for a list of some of the lessons from the web's hottest sites.
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TIP:
Web sites making the 'top 15' listing have some elements in common. Take some ideas from the list below and adopt some of these winning strategies for your web site.
Web success factors
1. Update and/or change the content regularly
2. Make sure the design is attractive, consistent and appropriate to
the type of site
3. Make sure the site loads quickly
4. Provide valuable information or articles
5. Incorporate interactive features, like surveys, and quizzes
6. Offer the ability to customize surfing experience
7. Offer links to other sites of interest
8. Offer useful tools like search engines, look ups, postcards, etc
9. Provide some sort of value added offering ie. demo software, search
tools, links to other sites
10. Make the site easy to navigate using recognized web conventions
like menus, frames and site maps
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BIZ SITES OF THE DAY:
Mountain Arts
Summer time is traditionally the time of year to send postcards to
your friends and family back home when you're off on vacation. 'Dear
Diane,
wish you were here' and so on. But have you ever sent an Internet
Postcard?
If you have, chances are you've used Mountain Arts (see below for its
ranking
on the net) but if not, take a few minutes to send a web postcard to
someone
you think might need a lift. (Business tip: a web postcard is a great way
to send an invitation or a 'thank you for your business' to an important
client.)
Recommend-it
One of the best ways to increase the traffic to your web site is by
having your visitors recommend your site to colleagues and friends.
Recommend-it
offers a free utility to make that process much easier. You can download
a button and the code to implement an easy to use web recommendation tool.
Once it is implemented on your site, your visitor's can click on a button
that pulls up a simple form where they can easily recommend your site to
a friend or colleague.
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TERM OF THE DAY:
ADSL
ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line)is a type of data
communication
delivers and receive information on the current telephone lines at a much
greater speed. One of the benefits for using this 'Asymmetric' technology
is that downloading occurs faster than uploading. This means that ADSL
technology is particularly useful for Web browsing, since the flow is
mostly
one way to the user. Another benefit is that the ADSL line can be on the
same line as your telephone line without blocking incoming or outgoing
calls on that line.
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Ripple Effect "Rock"
What's a Ripple Effect Rock? Well, think of a rock thrown in a lake, and how the water ripples outward. This section of the newsletter covers developments and technologies that we think might soon cause a "ripple effect" in business or society.
Ripple Rock for July 15, 1999
In a case that was closely watched by lawyers, web advertisers and
search engine operators alike, a federal court in southern California has
ruled against Playboy Enterprises in a case involving the sale of banner
ads keyed to specific search terms. The judge refused to grant Playboy's
request for an injunction against search engines, Excite and Netscape's
sale of the search terms 'playboy' and 'playmate' to third party
advertisers.
The judge ruled the terms were generic and therefore the search engine's
sale of them did not constitute trademark infringement or dilution.
This case was a legal challenge to the common practice by search engines of keying the ads displayed on the search engine to the search terms requested by the user rather than displaying banners randomly. Search engines can and do charge premium rates for this context-sensitive advertising. This ruling is significant in that it is an initial response in the U.S. courts to an issue that has substantial implications for the future growth of search engines and web advertising.
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That's it for now! Have a great week!
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"Exploring the Ripple Effect of Digital Technology"
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