Under the pseudonym of Sarcastic Journalist, Rachel Mosteller wrote this entry on her personal Web log one day last April: "I really hate my place of employment. Seriously. Okay, first off. They have these stupid little awards that are supposed to boost company morale. So you go and do something 'spectacular' (most likely, you're doing your JOB) and then someone says 'Why golly, that was spectacular.' then they sign your name on some paper, they bring you chocolate and some balloons. It did not say where the company was based. But apparently, Mosteller's supervisors and co-workers at the Durham (N.C.) …

Celebrity endorsements have been around as long as there've been celebrities -- and media. After some of the awkward fits and starts inherent to any new medium, celebrity shills have become, if not a staple, at least a fixture in online marketing. Over the past year or so, a handful of major brands have associated themselves with A-list talent in ways that are stunning, surprising, and extraordinarily innovative.

Once considered the final stage of software development, beta versions are taking on a life of their own, as companies tinker endlessly with their products in public.

It's not your grandfather's Google, apparently. "A9.com-ing" may not just slip musically off the tongue like "Googling" does, but will the former soon be kids' code for search? Motley Fool Stock Advisor pick Amazon.com recently had what may be a product placement coup with teens.

Agency.com has integrated online marketing subsidiary itraffic as part of a brand renewal on its 10th birthday. "We've been working on this for a year," Agency.com CEO and president Don Scales said of the brand integration and relaunch. Agency.com acquired itraffic in 1999, but the firm has operated separately since then.

David Talbot, a pioneer of online journalism who founded Salon magazine in 1995, will announce today that he is stepping down as the magazine's editor in chief, chief executive and relentless cheerleader. He will be replaced as editor, he said, by Joan Walsh, his longtime deputy.

Yahoo Inc. said late on Wednesday it has released a test version of its toolbar for the Mozilla Firefox Web browser.

Web search leader Google Inc. is focusing investment on expanding advertising services and improving Internet search, the Web search leader said on Wednesday at its first analyst day as a public company.

Online dating site Match.com has unveiled a marketing effort highlighting success stories from its 10 years of matchmaking on the new Success.Match.com site. Match.com spokesperson Kristin Kelly said the idea for the site resulted largely from a September 2004 survey of 4,743 newly married or engaged couples registered on WeddingChannel.com. That survey found 12 percent of the couples had met online, and nearly a third of them had met on Match.com. Over 75 percent said they would recommend Match.com to their friends.

Casino mogul Steve Wynn has pulled out all the stops for his new $2.7 billion mega-resort in Las Vegas: an 18-hole championship golf course, a private lake and mountain, and a bronze tower housing 2,700 plush guest rooms. But when its doors open in April, the Wynn Las Vegas will have one unique feature that few visitors are likely to notice--high-tech betting chips designed to deter counterfeiting, card-counting and other bad behavior.