Digital Marketing Blog

Microsoft tests Google Analytics rival

Microsoft is due to release web metrics software that is expected to become a challenger to Google Analytics.

The company last night confirmed it was running a closed 'alpha' test phase for a "very limited' number of our existing customers".

by Robert Andrews 10 January 2007 13:25pm 1 comment

Yahoo! to deliver search and ads to 3 customers

Yahoo! has signed a deal with mobile phone network 3 to carry its Go 2.0 mobile service on 3G handsets.

The portal announced the new version of its internet search and content application at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Tuesday; it lets users search for pages, directions, listings, news and more from a single interface.

by Robert Andrews 10 January 2007 13:23pm 0 comments

Q&A: Indeed CEO Paul Forster

Indeed.com aggregates millions of jobs every month, providing users with an comprehensive overview of the recruitment market.

Backed by the New York Times, the company has gone from strength to strength, and now indexes ads from more than 5,000 jobs boards.

I caught up with CEO Paul Forster to find out more about the company's progress to date, and plans for the future...

by Chris Lake 10 January 2007 12:45pm 1 comment

Myspace censors ban another service

Pete Cashmore at Mashable reports that Myspace has blocked its members from another third-party service – this time Trakzor , an application that lets you see who has been visiting your Myspace profile and view them on an interactive map.

by Richard Maven 10 January 2007 10:18am 0 comments

Sainsbury's in new online voucher mishap

Sainsbury’s has blocked the majority of voucher codes on its website, after mischievous customers found they could get massive discounts through a loophole in its coupon campaign.

The supermarket clearly hasn’t learned the lessons provided recently by toy retailer Hamleys, whose warehouses were almost stripped bare by discount-hungry consumers in the week before Christmas.

by Graham Charlton 10 January 2007 09:59am 0 comments

M&S online sales up 70%

Marks & Spencer announced its Christmas trading figures today, with like for like sales up by 5.6%, including a 70% increase in online earnings.

The move represents another success story for the etail sector in the 2006 Christmas season, with online sales rising dramatically compared with 2005. More and more shoppers have wisely chosen to avoid the stress and hassle of high street shopping in favour of buying online.

by Graham Charlton 09 January 2007 16:10pm 0 comments

Offline holiday shoppers paying over the odds

A new study from Holiday Which? has found that people who book their holidays through a high street travel agent are paying over the odds when compared to the deals available online.

The group investigated four tour operators, First Choice, MyTravel Group, Thomas Cook, and Thomson, basing its research on a two-week holiday for two adults and one child in Majorca.

by Graham Charlton 09 January 2007 13:48pm 0 comments

Lillywhites makes a mess of online retail

I foolishly took a trip into central London on Saturday, to try and find a new cricket bat at Lillywhites. As I’ve been abroad for the past few years and only recently returned to the UK, I didn’t know that the store had undergone some severe changes.

Suffice to say it is not a rewarding experience - particularly for anyone looking for sporting equipment rather than clothing, and for anyone with a pram. It's so full you can hardly get down the aisles, and the one lift it has doesn't go to all floors...

Anyway, this unhappiness could have been avoided, of course, if Lillywhites had its own website and I’d been able to check its selection beforehand.

by Richard Maven 09 January 2007 12:43pm 4 comments

Second Life to hand over metaverse software

Developers will get the opportunity to create their own hosted versions of Second Life after its maker Linden Lab announced plans to take the 3D virtual world open-source.

The San Francisco company last night released a version of the software used to access the environment that can be modified by its users under a GNU Public Licence. This means the many SL denizens who have already tinkered with the client through scripts can now help keep SL popular if its population spikes from recent media adulation wane this year.

by Robert Andrews 09 January 2007 12:16pm 0 comments

One in three UK companies flout spam laws

A new study published claims that 31% of the UK's top companies are failing to comply with EU directives on Privacy and Electronic Communications.

Under the terms of the EU directive, companies must only send emails to non-customers if they have actively opted in to receive them - when entering a competition, for example.

by Graham Charlton 09 January 2007 11:08am 0 comments