The Associated Press reports that Google's investment in Time Warner's AOL could result in an initial public offering for AOL as soon as 2008. An IPO would give Time Warner the opportunity to capitalize on what the company hopes will be an Internet ad boom boosted by the partnership. In partnership documents filed to the Securities and Exchange Commission, it appears that Google has the right to demand an IPO beginning in July 2008. Should Time Warner decline to acquiesce, it would then have the right to repurchase Google's stake based on a market valuation of its worth. Under the …

Google is being sued again (what else is new?) This time, Christian evangelical group Jews for Jesus is forcing the media giant to hand over control of a Web log hosted on the company's Blogspot service that it says infringes on the Jews for Jesus trademark. The group, which is also seeking punitive damages, alleges that Google illegally allowed the use of its name without consent. A blogger named "Whistle Blower" opened the site, which has just three entries, in January 2005. Surely, this is not the only case of bloggers naming their blog after someone else's trademark. In any …

Some much-needed good news saw shares surge Thursday for BlackBerry maker Research In Motion. The litigation-worn Canadian company posted an unexpected 33 percent rise in third quarter profit, causing shares to jump 11 percent yesterday. The impressive earnings quelled fears that its ongoing and exhausting patent dispute with NTP Inc. had caused a mass customer defection. In 2002, NTP won a patent infringement verdict against RIM; now it seeks an injunction to shut down RIM's popular BlackBerry service in the U.S. if RIM refuses to settle. A settlement at this point looks highly unlikely. Despite strong earnings, investors' optimism was …

An interesting article from The San Francisco Chronicle points out that the dramatic surge in online retailing (especially during the holidays) extends the resources of delivery companies like UPS to their absolute limits. One UPS driver reports making more than 300 deliveries on Tuesday the 20th, the single busiest day of the year for delivery companies handling a workload that's nearly 50 percent more than last year's, according to the article. And the business of moving packages is strenuous work, too. Delivery companies like UPS and FedEx report they had already surpassed their holiday goals before Dec. 20 due to …

Search marketers, in particular, will feel the most immediate impact of the fortified alliance between Google, Inc. and America Online. The potential to add graphical ads to paid listings and to buy them directly from AOL adds a new dimension, which search marketers discuss with ClickZ. One executive says the expanded deal solidifies Google and Yahoo's ranking as the two dominant players in search, which he and others say is a shame because the market could have used more competition. It's also a big setback for Microsoft's ambition to become a major player in Internet advertising, especially as the company …

The Walt Disney Company is now letting its customers design their own clothing complete with Disney images. The media company has forged a partnership with Zazzle.com, an online customization service that lets users sell their own art for use on personalized T-shirts, greeting cards and postage stamps. Consumers can select a Disney character, name or phrase from 4,000 images at the online boutique at disneyshopping.com and disneylinkshop.com.

Wall Street firm JMP Securities says advertising on the Internet will grow at a compounded rate of 25 percent worldwide for the next five years. The firm predicts that next year the global online ad market will reach $26.4 billion, and then $33.2 billion in 2007. Meanwhile, Forrester Research says that consumers with Internet access are now spending more than 30 percent of their time online, which caused JMP to raise its growth forecasts, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Online ad market growth predictions have been all over the map this year--Piper Jaffray recently predicted a $55 billion U.S. market …

New consumer data shows that e-mail marketing works--quite well, in fact. Seventy-eight percent of respondents to DoubleClick's sixth annual consumer survey, "E-mail Solutions," said they've made a purchase as a result of receiving an e-mail, 59 percent said they've redeemed an e-mail coupon in a store, and nearly one-third said they've clicked on an e-mail and made an immediate purchase. Users are now comfortable with e-mail; the report says they understand and accept the fact that marketers collect and use data to send them relevant e-mails. However, they are very worried about viruses, spyware and phishing scams: 75 percent fear …

Fraudsters love the holidays because the volume of online credit card transactions is higher than at any other time of the year. The holidays are a great reason to scam people into giving up their information. In fact, Internet security executives tell users they can expect twice as many phishing attacks this holiday season. Phishers gain access to sensitive information by sending out spam or by propping up fraudulent Web sites requesting credit card, home address or social security numbers. Last December there were 8,829 phishing scams; this October there were 15,820, according to e-mail management firm MailFrontier. Apparently security …

Research In Motion Chairman James L. Balsillie's spirits have lifted slightly on the news that the U.S. patent office is moving a bit faster than usual in reexamining the patents at the crux of his company's exhausting legal dispute over its BlackBerry wireless e-mail service. RIM has accused NTP, a tiny firm that holds the patents over the technology the BlackBerry service utilizes, of abusing the patent system and damaging its brand by publicly threatening to shut down the Blackberry service, which has millions of subscribers in the U.S. and Canada. NTP's business doesn't utilize the patents it holds--in fact …