Ads and Affiliates: Should Affiliate Link Point to the Merchant's Domain?
From: www.wilsonweb.com

"It has long been considered wise to have affiliate links point to the merchant's domain. But this can backfire for larger merchants. Dr. Wilson discusses the various issues that concern cookies, anti-adware, affiliate hijacking, and blocked domains in this rather technical article on various approaches used by affiliate management software programs. Date: Apr 27, 2005, 13:52 PST"

Conversion: Review: Call to Action
From: www.wilsonweb.com

"Review of Call to Action by Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg. It is a comprehensive volume on all of the elements in your website that, working together, will help raise your overall conversion rate. Highly recommended. Date: Apr 20, 2005, 20:37 PST"

E-Mail Marketing: Improving Your Subscription Confirmation Rate
From: www.wilsonweb.com

"Using confirmed opt-in (or double opt-in) is considered a best practice for e-mail lists. But unless you work at it, your confirmation rate can be dangerously low. Here are tips to improve an opt-in confirmation procedure. Date: Apr 13, 2005, 15:34 PST"

E-Commerce: Shipping Calculations with Drop-Shippers
From: www.wilsonweb.com

"Figuring shipping charges when your drop-shippers are scattered can be challenging. Charge standard shipping fees by sales total or weight that average out your actual costs. Use fewer shippers and pick products that are hot and not overly competitive. Date: Apr 6, 2005, 13:34 PST"

E-Commerce: Receiving Affiliate Payments in Disallowed Countries
From: www.wilsonweb.com

"Countries with high fraud or an unsophisticated bank infrastructure have difficulty receiving affiliate payments from merchants who pay via PayPal only. Article suggests a friend or relative in an allowed country who can send payments to the disallowed country via MoneyBookers or iKobo. Date: Mar 30, 2005, 11:19 PST"


What s Wrong with Blogging
From: www.webpronews.com

"I once heard of a debate between a Christian group and a Pagan group - it could have been a pretty un-constructive rant like event where one group tells the other group what's wrong with it and visa versa - everyone would have gone home with the same opinions that they came with - however this debate was different."

I WANT MY YAHOO TV!
From: www.webpronews.com

"Yahoo took another search engine leap today by offering a video option when looking through Yahoo's search engine. With video clips from top names like CBS, Buena Vista Pictures(Disney), VH1, MTV and a whole host of others, Yahoo continues to add to their offerings."

Google Accelerates The Web
From: www.webpronews.com

"New software to be offered by the search engine company would route web requests through its computers to speed up retrieval."

EMI Joins Universal, Sony, On Authorized Music Sharing
From: www.webpronews.com

"A deal inked with tech firm Snocap links EMI with the two largest music companies and may lead to legal peer-to-peer (P2P) sharing."

Yahoo Bolsters News at Cnet s Expense
From: www.webpronews.com

"Yahoo has hired Patrick Houston, formerly editor in chief at Cnet Networks, to run its technology news site."


Word's Open-Source Competition
From: www.wired.com

"OpenOffice 2.0, currently in beta, could be an alternative to Microsoft's office monopoly. Also: Billionaire invests in Bangladesh power.... Google patents news ranking system.... and more."

Microsoft Learns to Share
From: www.wired.com

"With an eye on profit, Redmond hands out research and development to the highest-bidding entrepreneur. Also: Plastic solar panels help the army.... IBM makes European job cuts.... and more."

Judging a Book by Its Contents
From: www.wired.com

"Amazon.com's Statistically Improbable Phrases aren't just a parlor game that condenses a book to its very essence. They're also a way to move curious readers through the retailer's vast catalog. By Ryan Singel."

Bluetooth's Future With Video
From: www.wired.com

"New wireless technology may add streaming video capabilities. Also: Connecticut sues Vonage over 911 policy.... Online wine trader gets national exposure from Amazon.com.... and more."

The Next Xbox Does It All
From: www.wired.com

"Microsoft's updated gaming console will be an entertainment hub. Also: Intel considers building new chip factory in India.... Boeing and Lockheed join forces to build rockets for the military."


Car Czar
From: webword.com

" Ford and GM are in trouble. There are many issues but let's tackle quality for a minute. Most people still think that American vehicles break down and rust out, especially compared to Asian vehicles. However, there is evidence that American vehicles have greatly improved in recent years, even earning top marks from J.D. Power and Associates.

If you were an image consultant, particularly focused on quality, what would you do?"

Search Infancy
From: webword.com

" Search has really just started. We're not even close to where we could be for two important reasons.

The first reason is obvious. Search sucks. No matter how good Google might be, for example, it isn't eerily accurate yet. It is good, no doubt. But, it doesn't always work. Search engines still have a hard time grappling with the fact that users are searching for a way to make mom happy versus mothers day present. If only pesky users would act more like machines!

A related problem with Search is that users are so different. There are regularities but users are finicky little animals. Rascals! Therefore, search engines will always have difficultly. Stated differently, users aren't machines, machines aren't users.

The second reason is far less obvious. This is where you should pay attention. No one -- and I mean NO ONE -- has a good handle on what "information" really is.

Here are a couple of mindbombs regarding Search. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to search through all of your cell phone conversations? Wouldn't it be nice to search through your medical history, and the medical history of your relatives (if they allow it)? Wouldn't it be nice if Search anticipated my questions and provided guidance before I asked them?

But it doesn't stop there. Search is only about 10% of the real equation. If you are looking for a present for mom on Mother's Day, you have motives, emotions, and desires. You're looking to solve a problem, not just get an answer or purchase a product.

The key to this way of thinking is to examine humans in relation to information. Humans consume, alter, update, and delete information. They filter. They notice patterns. They make decisions.

Search is so wickedly far behind it isn't even remotely funny. We're cavemen writing on the wall. When future generations look back at us now, they will not understand how we could possibly function in our current environment.

I'm happy to say that Search is mostly useless. It is the wrong answer to the wrong problem. I'm happy in that I know that I am an ignorant monkey. This is unlike most folks who incorrectly think Search is really useful. It ain't, folks, and you shouldn't buy the hype.

Related: Visiting The Ghost"

Ubuntu: Linux for Human Beings
From: webword.com

" "The Ubuntu community is built on the ideas enshrined in the Ubuntu Manifesto: that software should be available free of charge, that software tools should be usable by people in their local language and despite any disabilities, and that people should have the freedom to customise and alter their software in whatever way they see fit."

Can someone tell me how this is truly different than Red Hat?

Learn more..."

A word that is an example of itself
From: webword.com

" One of my favorite words is obsfuscation. I don't use it very often but that doesn't matter, I still like it a lot. It is one of the only words that is an example of itself. It is especially fun when I am trying to be really clear about something but I still end up with obsfuscation. It is pesky yet lovable, like a naughty pet."

US Air -- Email Response Parsing
From: webword.com

" I had trouble signing up for US Air's frequent flyer program (Dividend Miles). I literally tried about eight times, but failed. So, a couple of days ago I spent about 10 minutes looking for a way to send them an email. I found a way, sent my message and shuffled along.

Today I received a response. The customer service representative informed me that I could provide her with my contact information and she would sign me up. So, I hit the Reply button, typed the message, and sent the email.

It bounced. At first I was frustrated, figuring that, yet again, a big company is using a generic email address. I know this makes sense for many reasons, but the practice drives me crazy as a user. In any event, although it was true the email address was generic, that was not the root cause.

After scanning the email, I found the following two lines:

[===> If you need to reply to us, please type below this line ===>]

[===> If you need to reply to us, please type above this line ===>]

No, I'm not kidding. I've never seen anything quite like this, except in code comments. Then it hit me. Bing! That is exactly what US Air is doing. They are exposing their technology to me, the end user.

I'll bet they have code to parse responses from schlumps like me. They probably programmatically evaluate the subject line, which includes an incident number, and then they parse out the text between the two lines. Clever. Maybe.

How about the usability factor? Does cost savings trump usability here?"


'Uh Oh' Here It Comes Again!
From: www.marketingsecrets.com

"Another Internet Marketing shockwave will hit in the next few days... ...Are You Ready For It?..."

Thank You, Microsoft
From: www.marketingsecrets.com

"I recently reported that Yahoo was in the process of launching its own AdSense type program (which is great news for web publishers). Well, it appears as if Microsoft won't be far behind... There's no news yet about Microsoft creating..."

More Yahoo 'AdSense Clone' News
From: www.marketingsecrets.com

"News.com recently reported more information about Yahoo entering Google's AdSense territory. Check out the story here. Yahoo is already building an opt-in notification list for publishers that are interested in their "upcoming programs." Get on the list NOW to be..."

Good News For Us!
From: www.marketingsecrets.com

"Well, it appears as if my speculation is finally coming true... Over a year ago, I predicted that Yahoo would follow Google's AdSense lead and release a similar program of their own. They'd have to in order to keep up..."

I Have A Strange Feeling...
From: www.marketingsecrets.com

"I have a strange feeling that long form sales letters on the Web are going to become less and less effective. Call it a hunch. As an avid tester, I am discovering some interesting things about how long visitors stay..."