Digital Marketing Blog

Hotels.com sued over disabled access

Travel e-tailer Hotels.com is being sued by a group of disabled Californian dancers because it could not guarantee reservations for customers with wheelchairs.

Bonnie Lewkowicz and Judith Smith of of the AXIS non-profit dance company filed a complaint in Alameda County Superior Court seeking an injunction that would force the internet store to account for disabled shoppers.

by Robert Andrews 23 May 2007 12:32pm 2 comments

Google adds essay writers to banned AdWords list

Google is to stop taking ads for companies that offer essay writing services to university students.

Many institutions in recent years have complained about the availability of proxy writing services that allow candidates to buy stock or custom manuscripts from website retailers.

by Robert Andrews 23 May 2007 12:29pm 0 comments

Ten years of online banking, yet concerns persist

Online banking in the UK will reach its tenth anniversary this week, with the country's first internet banking service launched by Nationwide on 27 May 1997.

Since around 13,000 people registered for Nationwide's online banking service in 1997, online banking has grown rapidly - the company now has more than 3m internet banking customers.

by Graham Charlton 23 May 2007 12:19pm 1 comment

Blinkx shares surge following London IPO

Shares in Blinkx, the video search engine that has floated on London's AIM market, rose by more than 40% on the first day of trading.

The company's share price leapt from 45p to 64p, something that increased Blinkx's valuation to £170m and subsequently prompted a number of mainstream media journalists to dredge up the words 'dotcom' and 'boom'.

Blinkx indexes more than 12m hours of video content, and claims to be the world's largest video search engine. The Times says Blinkx had about 1.1m searches a day last month and about 700,000 unique users daily.

by Graham Charlton 23 May 2007 10:54am 0 comments

Google launches online security blog

Google has been addressing the issue of online security lately, and has launched the Google Online Security Blog as part of this effort.

by Graham Charlton 22 May 2007 16:42pm 0 comments

M&S needs to learn lessons from Tesco Online

M&S has recruited internet starlet Martha Lane Fox in a bid to push its online operation, which appears to be performing well below its potential.

The former lastminute.com co-founder will join M&S as a non-executive director, it was announced today in tandem with the release of the company’s annual results.

by Chris Lake 22 May 2007 14:19pm 1 comment

Virgin Wines relaunches, adds 'wine auctions'

Virgin Wines has relaunched its website, giving it a new look, and has added a new auction feature, so customers can bid against each other for cases of wine.

by Graham Charlton 22 May 2007 12:53pm 2 comments

Amazon bans Zlio from selling its products

Zlio, a French startup which lets users set up their own DIY shops, has suffered a blow, as e-commerce giant Amazon has stopped Zlio shopkeepers from listing its products.

Interestingly, this ban only applies to the US, and Zlio shopkeepers in Europe will still be able to list Amazon's products. Zlio users set up their own DIY shops and earn affiliate commission on the products they sell.

by Graham Charlton 22 May 2007 12:39pm 4 comments

Interview with Richard Spalding of Kontraband

Richard Spalding is the MD and co-founder of Kontraband - owner of the popular distraction site of the same name and viral marketing agency The 7th Chamber. The company's currently self-financing but has just appointed investment bank GP Bullhound to secure funding for an assault on the US.

We asked Richard about his plans for the future, and why viral is still an under-thought-of part of the marketing mix....

by Richard Maven 22 May 2007 12:00pm 0 comments