EADP -

weblocal.ca selects Agendize's online scheduling solution to help advertisers generate more business

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:53:40 +0200

Agendize Services, Inc., a leading provider of engagement tools that help online advertisers convert traffic into more conversations and more business was recently selected by weblocal.ca, a leading local search portal owned by one of Canada's largest publishers, to offer an easy and convenient way for businesses to generate more leads 24/7. This upcoming technology integration will enrich user experience by enabling them to instantly book an appointment with local merchants directly from weblocal.ca as well as from merchants' websites.

Most people still don’t want to be located

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:27:16 +0200

The New York Times thinks that location based Web services are still a hard sell. Big companies and start-ups alike — including Google, Foursquare, Gowalla, Shopkick and most recently Facebook — offer services that let people report their physical location online, so they can connect with friends or receive coupons. Venture capitalists have poured $115 million into location start-ups since last year, according to the National Venture Capital Association, and companies like Starbucks and Gap have offered special deals to users of such services who visited their stores.

Being followed by ads?

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 22:59:35 +0200

The New York Times today devotes a long article to “retargeting ads”, a marketing practice that is attracting the attention of privacy protectors. The article sites the example of a woman who looked online for a specific pair of shoes, but did not buy them. “For days or weeks, every site I went to seemed to be showing me ads for those shoes. It is a pretty clever marketing tool. But it’s a little creepy, especially if you don’t know what’s going on,” the article quotes the woman. Retargeting seems to have reached a level of precision that is leaving consumers with the feeling that they are being watched as they roam the virtual aisles of online stores. In the digital advertising business, this form of highly personalized marketing is being hailed as the latest breakthrough because it tries to show consumers the right ad at the right time. Others, even within the industry find it disturbing.

Germany plans to limit use of Facebook in hiring

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 22:31:22 +0200

There are many stories of people who failed to get a job because of some silly posting on their Facebook page. Now the German government on Wednesday proposed placing restrictions on employers who want to use Facebook profiles when recruiting. This would be part of the draft of a law governing workplace privacy. The bill would allow managers to search for publicly accessible information about prospective employees on the Web and to view their pages on job networking sites, like LinkedIn or Xing. But it would forbid the use of purely social networking sites like Facebook, said Philipp Spauschus, a spokesman for the Interior Minister, Thomas de Maizière. Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet on Wednesday gave its backing to the proposed law. The bill will now go to Parliament for discussion, and could be passed as early as this year, Mr. Spauschus said. (Source: New York Times)

Tupalo.com launches iPhone application with check-ins and badges

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 17:40:32 +0200

Vienna, Austria based Social Yellow Pages Startup Tupalo.com, has just announced check-ins as a new feature to their location-based services, currently available on the iPhone (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/ viewSoftware?mt=8&ign-lr=Lockup_r2c1&id=371429976) and online web applications. Checking-in is a well-known social interaction most people know from Hotels or Airports. Yet this concept has been taken to the next level by enabling mobile web users to „checkin“ at any local business, be it at a bar in Houston, Texas (http:// tupalo.com/en/houston-texas/c/bar) or at a Hairdresser in Los Angeles, California (http://tupalo.com/en/los-angeles-california/c/salon).

Yellow Pages £5,000 online video challenge

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 22:25:05 +0200

Yell is throwing down a £5,000 challenge in the hunt for the best amateur videos of "amazing things" that can be done with its Yellow Pages directories. The fun contest is being run to mark the directory's historic revamp into a new handy-sized format that will fit through letterboxes. It is the most significant change to the UK Yellow Pages directory since it was first published more than 40 years ago. 

Mobile operators expect income from apps will surpass voice income

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 22:38:31 +0200

An Enquiry by the Economist Intelligence Unit found that mobile operators expect that within three years, most of their revenues will come from app downloads rather than from voice services. At the moment voice services, account for about 70 per cent of their income, but that will be overtaken by app download revenues in 2013. Mobile operators want to charge content providers for preferential access to their networks, which raises questions about net neutrality.

Britains spend almost half of waking hours on TV, phones and Internet

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 10:49:20 +0200

UK consumers are spending almost half (45 per cent) of their waking hours watching TV, using their mobiles and other communications devices, new Ofcom research revealed. UK consumers are now sending four times as many texts per day than in 2004, spending almost a quarter of their internet time on social networking sites andspending 3 hours and 45 minutes per day watching TV. They are also using several types of media at the same time – with the average person cramming 8 hours 48 minutes of media into just over seven hours during the average day.

Facebook launches geo-location product “Places”

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 22:51:35 +0200

Facebook has launched its long awaited geo-location product called “Places”. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the mobile product will focus on tree major features: “It will allow users to share where they are with their friends; allow them to see who is near them; and allow them to discover new places around them”. Predictably, the product raised fears about privacy protection but company executives insisted there were strong privacy controls. Places is a mobile product for "advanced mobile browsers" and can be accessed through Facebook's most recent iPhone app or via touch.facebook.com. Direct competitors such as Gowalla, Yelp, Booyah and Foursquare - at least publicly - appeared eager to work with Facebook. Mr. Zuckerberg did not say anything directly about ads on Places, but hinted that that may come. This first version of Places will only roll out in the US. (Source: AdAge.com)

Google CEO warns about danger of social networks

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 23:04:00 +0200

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said that social networks represent a danger we do not fully understand. "I don't believe society understands what happens when everything is available, knowable and recorded by everyone all the time," he said. "I mean we really have to think about these things as a society. I'm not even talking about the really terrible stuff, terrorism and access to evil things." To escape their youthful indiscretions young people may even have to change their names. But recently one columnist in The New York Times went so far as to describe our current world as an age defined by "the impossibility of erasing your posted past and moving on".

Mattias Wedar appointed new President of Eniro Denmark

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 23:33:26 +0200

On August 20, 2010, Mattias Wedar will assume the position of new President of Eniro Denmark. For the past two years, he has held the position as Chief Information Officer, in addition to being a driving force in several of the development projects that influence the Eniro Group. Meanwhile, Einar Storsul will be appointed as the new Chief Information Officer. Einar has worked at Eniro since 2001, most recently as CTO for Eniro Norway.

The debate over net neutrality

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 22:40:35 +0200

Net neutrality has been in the news lately with the agreement between Google and Verizon in the centre of it. Net neutrality is the principle that all Internet traffic – content, platforms, and websites – should be treated equally by the networks that deliver them. Telecoms firms want the right for companies to pay a premium to have their content delivered faster than rival content, or to establish new layer of faster internet on which to serve paying, premium services. That would leave non-commercial sites on a poorer, slower web where they would find it harder to attract readers – changing the democratic nature of the Internet. It would also mean poorer users, or those in the developing world, would find it harder to access the "full" Internet experience.

US home broadband growth slows

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 22:58:49 +0200

After several years of double digit growth, broadband adoption has slowed dramatically in 2010, but growth among African-Americans jumped well above the national average with a 22% year-over-year broadband adoption growth. Two-thirds of American adults (66%) now have a broadband internet connection at home, a figure that is little changed from the 63% at a similar point in 2009. The findings come as the Obama administration has allocated $7.2 billion in stimulus money for broadband grants, saying fast access to the Internet is essential to encourage innovation and expand the economy. But by a 53%-41% margin, Americans say they do not believe that the spread of affordable broadband should be a major government priority. Contrary to what some might suspect, non-internet users are less likely than current users to say the government should place a high priority on the spread of high-speed connections. ( Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project)

Telefónica to invest in social network Tuenti

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 22:43:22 +0200

Spanish telecoms operator Telefónica is to acquire a stake in Tuenti, Spain’s leading social network. In order to maintain Tuenti’s success, the current management team, headed by Zaryn Dentzel, will remain at the helm. This deal will increase Telefónica’s exposure to the innovative changes taking place on the web and to the services being sought by young people. It will also strengthen Telefónica’s Internet position, particularly in social networks, allowing it to tap into this growth business which is radically changing the way users interrelate and communicate online. Tuenti is Spain’s leading social network and boasts the highest number of traffic (ComScore May 2010) with 25,000 page views. (Source: Telefónica)

Google Street View soll bis Jahresende kommen

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 18:46:00 +0200

Nach den langen Streitigkeiten, die es um das Projekt Street View in der Vergangenheit gab, drückt Google nun aufs Tempo. Bis zum Jahresende soll der Dienst auch in Deutschland online gehen. Anwohner, die nicht wollen, dass ihr Haus im Netz für jedermann zu sehen ist, haben vier Wochen Zeit, vorab ihr Veto einzulegen. Dazu wird Google in der kommenden Woche auf der deutschen Street-View-Seite eine neue Funktion starten, über die die Unkenntlichmachung von Häusern eingefordert werden kann. Ebenso ist es möglich, sich per Brief an Google Deutschland zu wenden. Nach Ablauf der Monatsfrist wird die Online-Vetofunktion eingestellt. Alle bis dahin erfolgten Einsprüche sollen dann bearbeitet werden, sodass die entsprechenden Gebäude bereits beim Start von Street View unkenntlich gemacht sind. Auch danach kann Einspruch gegen die Veröffentlichung eingelegt werden. Allerdings sind die jeweiligen Aufnahmen eine Zeit lang online verfügbar.