Marketing

As the market for online banking matures, competition is heating up for a group of consumers no longer loyal to their primary financial institution. Some 31 percent of online consumers who have a checking or savings account are "switchers" -- people who can be enticed to desert their primary bank wi...

CBS has acquired Last.fm, a social networking Web site, for $280 million. The London-based operation focuses on music and has more than 15 million active users. CBS has reportedly been working on this deal for some time, the end goal being to allow Last.fm users to post CBS video clips to the site.

More Americans are taking a carefree attitude toward the nuisance of spam clogging their e-mail in-boxes, according to a new study. Better familiarity, spam filtering and a decrease in pornography-laced spam have eased users' concerns over the scourge. "It's starting to become part of life online," ...

Despite their denials, newspapers all over the world are simply dying. The gravity of the problem is not the result of competition from TV or the Internet. Rather, it's due to the fact that people all over the world prefer moving pictures in the palms of their hands over deciphering or reading betwe...

When online advertisers use pay-per-click advertising, as much as 15 percent of the clicks they pay for could be fraudulent, according to the results of a new study announced Friday. Under a pay-per-click agreement, an online advertiser must pay for every time a potential customer clicks on its ad.

Microsoft announced on Friday it will acquire Web ad firm aQuantive in a deal valued at $6 billion, marking the latest and largest deal in a merger-and-acquisition frenzy aimed at staking a claim in the converging worlds of traditional and online advertising. Microsoft agreed to pay $66.50 per share...

Interactive marketing firm 24/7 Real Media has agreed to be acquired by UK-based advertising giant WPP Group, continuing the trend of consolidation in the online advertising space. London-based WPP will pay $11.75 per share for 24/7, WPP said, giving the all-cash deal a value of $649 million. New Yo...

E-mail marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to get your name in front of prospective or existing customers, to generate sales or stay top of mind. The e-mail messaging that clogs in-boxes around the world is known as spam, and with good reason: It is unwanted. Its solicitations are rarel...

Social networking site MySpace has announced that it will launch a group of branded channels for video content produced by partners such as The New York Times, National Geographic, and Octane TV. Each channel will be housed within the MySpace Video area of the site and will feature content customize...

The breadth of problems e-commerce has solved is staggering. We can shop 24/7 at most national retailers and many of our local favorites. We are assured of getting one of the first copies of the latest Harry Potter novel long before it hits bookstores. We order tickets for the latest blockbuster mov...

Marketers assume that Googling for information is an automatic response the instant a Web surfer opens a browser. For many Internet users, the theory is true. However, many people bypass search engines altogether in favor of a technique called direct navigation. Direct navigation is when a user dire...

Every interaction an enterprise has with customers, partners or suppliers instigates a new trail of data that can create a deluge effect over a short period of time. Experts predict that within a few years, it won't be uncommon to see enterprises with networks and databases storing over 100 TB of in...

Time Warner has reported first-quarter profits that outperformed Wall Street expectations, mostly on the strength of its rise in new cable video, Internet and phone subscribers, as well as strong online ad sales. Shares of the world's largest media company rose more than 3 percent as it reported a 4...

Online advertising and marketing firm 24/7 Real Media saw its shares soar to a 52-week high on the strength of rumors that Microsoft was nearing a deal to buy the company for about $1 billion. Shares of 24/7 Real Media jumped more than 24 percent to a yearly high of $13 Tuesday on rumors that the so...

Successful entry into U.S. markets is difficult for outsourcing companies operating within North America. For call center and business process outsourcing firms seeking to gain initial market entry or to expand their market share from offshore locations, it is even tougher. The steps to market entr...