Security | Internet Marketing Blog

Find the Gap.com (oh, actually you can't)

After almost three years of weak sales Gap CEO Paul Pressler has stepped down to enjoy more than £7m worth of severance pay. Why is the 3,100-store company suffering? One look at Gap’s website tells you all you need to know.

With just 107 words of readable text on its homepage, the Gap site is far too fond of pretty pictures for its own good. Being image-heavy isn’t always such a big problem, especially in these broadband-enabled times, but Gap has failed to strike the right balance between pictures and prose.

The main consequence for Gap is rubbish search engine visibility. Is it any wonder that the firm sales are in freefall?

by Chris Lake 24 January 2007 16:56pm 4 comments

Swedish bank loses $1.1m to online fraud

In what is reported to be the biggest ever online 'heist', Swedish bank Nordea has lost up to $1.1 million (£570,000) to Russian organised criminal using a 'tailor made' Trojan.

Up to 250 of the bank's customers were duped by an email which purported to come from the bank, encouraging Nordea's customers to download a piece of anti-spam software.

by Graham Charlton 22 January 2007 12:02pm 0 comments

Online sales growing faster than fraud - Cybersource

UK retailers' investments in security are helping to keep levels of online fraud low, according to Cybersource's third annual Online Fraud Report.

The report, carried out by research company Vanson Bourne, surveyed 150 UK retailers - 73% of which reported that losses from fraud have stalled or fallen as a proportion of revenue.

by Graham Charlton 16 January 2007 13:39pm 0 comments

Online fraud and spam levels fall

Despite an increase in online shopping over the Christmas period, levels of online credit card fraud actually fell, according to anti-fraud organisation Early Warning.

Early Warning MD Andrew Goodwill puts the drop in fraud down to increased awareness by online retailers of the risk of card fraud, and the measures they have taken to combat fraud.

by Graham Charlton 15 January 2007 13:37pm 0 comments

UK portals to launch promotional network

Several UK portals have formed a partnership to act as a distribution channel for large-scale voucher and discount campaigns.

The CouponNET service, created by online vouchering company Couponstar, will see it hosting ‘voucher galleries’ on third party sites and effectively creating a UK affiliate network focusing purely on freebies and discounts.

by Richard Maven 03 January 2007 12:09pm 0 comments

Online discount woes hit Hamleys

Toy retailer Hamleys had its website pillaged by bargain hungry e-shoppers over the weekend, as customers exploited an error with discount codes.

The offer allowed shoppers using different discount codes together to get a whopping 60% off goods at Hamleys' online store. After the 'offer' was displayed on the HotUKDeals website, thousands took advantage.

by Graham Charlton 19 December 2006 15:31pm 2 comments

Banks reluctant to reveal full extent of online fraud

Fearful of damaging their reputations and denting consumer confidence, online banks are hiding the true extent of online fraud, according to a senior police officer.

The Guardian reports that Detective Superintendent Russell Day told an all-party parliamentary group investigating online fraud that banks are failing to report instances of phishing and other forms of swinish behaviour.

by Graham Charlton 05 December 2006 17:43pm 0 comments

Security concerns cost etailers £2bn

Security concerns are proving a major barrier to the growth of e-commerce, according to a study by Gartner.

Gartner estimates that online sales to the value of $2bn were lost in 2006 because of concerns about malware and the theft of personal and credit card information.

by Graham Charlton 01 December 2006 12:09pm 0 comments

Report - Myspace to announce copyright enforcement deal

Michael Arrington reports that Myspace is set to clamp down on copyright infringement through a deal with digital entertainment company Gracenote .

by Richard Maven 30 October 2006 14:40pm 0 comments

Irony shocker as Forbes lists ‘10 most dangerous online activities’

In a somewhat sensationalist article called ‘The 10 Most Dangerous Online Activities’ Forbes outlines – yup, you guessed it – the 10 things people should be wary of when online.

Most of these activities are obvious no-go areas, though one or two amount to madness. Such as “using Linkedin”. I’m not kidding, folks. Be scared, be very scared...

by Chris Lake 26 October 2006 13:54pm 0 comments