Wired News: Can Spam? Or New Can of Worms?: When the new antispam law kicks in New Year's Day, e-mail users may not have much to cheer. The definition of unsolicited e-mail includes loopholes wide enough to drive a dump truck of junk mail through, critics say. By Chris Ulbrich.

"Mastria said legitimate businesses would have an incentive to police their own e-mailing behavior.
'If you're abusing the privilege allowed to you in this new context, folks will put you out of business one way or another, by not buying from you or removing themselves from your list,' he said."

Enter your search terms Submit search form

e-consultancy.com : E-business Briefing: "The new crop of online social networks such as london forums - craigslist(which quietly launched in London this year), Friendster, MeetUp and Tribe.net has lead to trusted netorks being formed amongst the most active users. This is ultimately leading them towards more reliable information on purchases and services in defined geographical areas - especially when it comes to house sales and plumbers, not to mention prospective boyfriends and girlfriends.

And it's all getting a bit serious. Three weeks ago, San Francisco-based Tribe.net won $6.3 million in VC funding, while Knight Ridder and The Washington Post Co. also took an undisclosed stake.

Tribe.net, launched in July, invites people to build a variety of social and career networks, or tribes, to help them accomplish their goals. Typical users are highly educated urban dwellers aged 20 to 40, according to the company, so don't expect to find Grandma there.

But it's early days yet, and the key demographic is non-newspaper readers - people newspapers are understandably desperate to attract.

Just ask The Times. It, along with the Independent (which was first) recently launched tabloid versions to try and attract younger, commuting readers in London.

If these latest move in the US are anything to go by, there could come a day when we'll see social software come free with our daily newspaper."

Enter your search terms Submit search form

Connecting Offline Sales to SEM: A Case Study: "He drives all the sales for an online store selling very high-end 'considered purchase' goods. He does it without any PR support; print, radio, or TV advertising; a branding campaign -- and here's the killer: without anything we would consider a 'marketing mix' in the traditional sense."

Enter your search terms Submit search form

Features: " many believe that this will not affect business emails. However, any information that identifies an individual (which includes a business email address) comes under the directive and caution should be used when developing an email marketing campaign."

Enter your search terms Submit search form

Slashdot | UK Spam Law Goes Live: "'So, the UK has taken matters into its own hands and, as of today, is making it a criminal offence to send e-mails or text messages unless the recipient has agreed in advance to accept them. The law comes into force today. Unfortunately much spam originates from the US so the UK had previously asked the US to co-operate.'"

Enter your search terms Submit search form

Lycos Plans IPO in Europe, Debuts Singapore Site: "As region-based Internet stocks are becoming more and more of a hot commodity in Europe, Lycos and Europe venture partner Bertelsmann have made plans to list on Germany's Neuer Markt"

Enter your search terms Submit search form

Email & regs:
Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations
2003, due to come into force in the UK on 11th December.

Law firm Eversheds...say...

One of the main requirements under the Regulations is that
unsolicited email for direct marketing purposes is not sent to
individual subscribers without their consent unless you've checked
of the following:

- the recipient's contact details have been obtained in the course
of a sale or negotiations for the sale of a product or service to
that recipient;

- the email's content is in respect of the sender's similar products
and services only; and

- a simple means of refusing those damned emails is given to the
recipient both when the details are initially collected and with
each subsequent email.

Enter your search terms Submit search form

totaltravel = the answer (fingers crossed)
E-Commerce News: Winners and Losers in the Online Travel Market:
""I think the online travel industry has yet to build a brand that has emotional resonance in the way other products do," she said. "By focusing on what the customer wants in this way, I think we have a huge opportunity to drive loyalty."

"Where these types of sites traditionally have specialized in one area, like inexpensive airline tickets, now they are geared toward offering a full range of travel products -- from tours to hotel rooms to last-minute trip packages.
This is a direction that has been largely determined by consumer desire to have a one-stop shopping experience, said Bob Goodwin, Gartner managing vice president, who told the E-Commerce Times that the more a site can offer, the better its chances for differentiating itself in a crowded marketplace will be. "

No matter who wins or loses in the online travel market this year, Ek noted that it won't be a site that will turn out to be king of travel. It will be the consumer. "All these sites are trying hard to attract customers, and that means it's going to benefit the consumer," he said. "If you're a traveler, 2004 will be your year."

Enter your search terms Submit search form

www.clickz.com: "To build your first SEM budget, you may first have to engage in SEM to determine volume and performance. But some forecasting is possible. "

Enter your search terms Submit search form