• Future tool: Weatherbug
    The Weatherbug (www.weatherbug.com) is a free program that can be downloaded to PCs (no Macs for now), courtesy of Automated Weather Source Convergence Technologies (AWS). From your Windows Desktop, the program delivers local weather data for almost any U.S. location, which is chosen by the user by entering a zip code as part of a registration process. Some 500,000 have registered so far, and sign-up rates are climbing, reports Andy Jedynak, AWS vice president. Data is generated from more than 4,500 locations, with automated measuring hardware installed mostly at schools. Weatherbug offers real-time, constantly updated, local weather data over the …
  • How to Buy Interactive TV Spots
    ‘Personal TV services’ such as TiVo, Wink, and WebTV are gaining ground. How will you reach an audience that no longer has to watch ads? Interactive TV is basically video-based programming that combines regular shows with an interactive component like graphics on video, the ability to record programming in real time for later review, or—and here’s where your ears should perk up—creating interactive ads, known as “enhancements,” so viewers can order products and services during their TV watching experience. Phillips, Sony, and others manufacture the “black boxes,” or DVRs (Digital Video Recorders) as they’re called, that carry the subscription-based …
  • Sweepstakes Primer: You've Just Won!
    Sweepstakes and incentives are proving successful at building traffic and collecting consumer information. And they can be up and running in a matter of hours. Now that online consumers have seen enough banner ads to make them sputter, and web surfers are overwrought with spam campaigns and e-junk mail, what is the future going to hold for advertisers who want their audiences to feel invited rather than repelled by the images flashing before them on the computer screen? How do they reach the over-stimulated masses? Simple. Entice them by offering something nice. Let’s face it, people like to …
  • MEDIA FOR THE ONLINE WORLD - Buying Online Why Do We Still Hesitate?
    Here’s a quick quiz. What do Furniture.com, Garden.com, Beautyjungle.com, Pets.com, Mortgage.com, Shoplink.com, and Toysmart.com have in common? If you guessed that they are all e-commerce businesses and that they all folded in the last two months, then you are correct. In fact, about 20 dot-coms went out of business in the first two weeks of November, which is nearly the number for the entire month of October. Actually, the entire year has been rough for Internet companies with over 130 dot-coms closing down since January, resulting in about 8,000 layoffs according to findings of a survey by Webmergers.com. This …
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