Robert Andrews

Threadwatch to shut on Friday

Threadwatch, a web community dedicated to posting and discussing internet marketing news, will close on Friday, its proprietor said.

Aaron Wall explained that he did not have the time to take the site mainstream, counter competition from a growing number of blogs and keep contributors on the straight and narrow, thanks to new personal commitments.

by Robert Andrews 27 June 2007 09:08am 0 comments

International domains on ICANN agenda

Overseas businesses may soon be able to register domain names with foreign characters.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is meeting in Puerto Rico this week to discuss allowing characters with accents or in entirely different scripts to be added to the internet system.

by Robert Andrews 26 June 2007 13:02pm 0 comments

Blue sky thinking from Expedia artists

Online travel site Expedia gathered hundreds of budding artists in Trafalgar Square, London, for a summertime outdoor branding campaign.

by Robert Andrews 25 June 2007 09:46am 0 comments

Business.com could sell again for new record

Domain name Business.com could sell for between $300m and $400m this year, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

The name went for a then record $7.5m when it was bought by two entrepreneurs at the height of the dotcom boom in 1999.

by Robert Andrews 25 June 2007 09:44am 0 comments

Exalead surges in French search

French search engine Exalead is now growing its user base faster than Google or any of its rivals.

The site grew its share 16.1% between April and May, while Google grew 0.4%, Yahoo! fell 7.1% and MSN was down 5.6%, according to XiTi Monitor.

by Robert Andrews 21 June 2007 12:00pm 0 comments

Neutrogena sponsors Lonelygirl15 'branded character'

Skincare products line Neutrogena will sponsor a whole character in the popular internet video drama Lonelygirl15.

The Johnson & Johnson company has inked a two-month deal that will add to the plot a 22-year-old Neutrogena scientist who helps lead character Bree develop a serum to defeat an evil organisation known as The Order.

by Robert Andrews 21 June 2007 11:00am 0 comments

Shoppers 'miss millions in online savings'

Britons who refuse to shop online due to security fears could be missing out on annual savings of £175m to £375m, according to a government study.

The Office of Fair Trading's Internet Shopping study (pdf) found a high level of worry among consumers about risks involved in using credit cards to make web payments - but it's worry that is often unnecessary.

by Robert Andrews 20 June 2007 08:28am 0 comments

Google Maps adds reviews and ratings

Google Maps has created a facility that allows users to add reviews and ratings for listed businesses.

The search giant's maps site has long aggregated consumer views from reviews sites around the web, but now allows users to add their own views directly on the map.

by Robert Andrews 20 June 2007 09:00am 0 comments

Google plugs in green car initiative

Google has announced a philanthropic initiative aimed at reducing carbon emissions by popularising electric-powered cars.

Part of the google.org philanthropy project, RechargeIT is offering $1m to think-tanks looking at ways to drive up use of electric and hybrid vehicles.

by Robert Andrews 19 June 2007 11:00am 0 comments

Italian tourism crippled by malicious web bug

Italy's online tourism industry was thrown into chaos when thousands of tourism websites were shut down by a software infection that takes over users' computers.

Nicknamed 'The Italian Job' by security experts, the attack began last week and claimed around 10,000 sites by Monday morning.

by Robert Andrews 19 June 2007 09:58am 1 comment