JOHN SUMSER,
E D I T O R

LINDA WILSON,
R E P O R T E R


S P O N S O R S


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The advertising
industry is on
the verge of
being shattered
into a thousand
fragments due to
the knowledge explosion
and the proliferation
of new technologies.
There are no
more grand theories
that hold sway
over the entire
industry.
Michael Strangelove


Advertising is
one of the minor
arts, so don't
be intimidated
by it. Try
not to lose
your sense of
playfulness.
Keep it fun.
Robert Bly



Reality
is more
complex
than
it seems.
John Gall



The System
is its own
best
explanation.
John Gall



It's better to
do a few things
really well than
than to do
a lot of things
badly.
If you can't
make the necessary
commitments of
time and energy
to your
electronic
marketing
efforts
scale back
your plan.
John Sumser


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December 20, 1996

Demographics

The results of GVU's Sixth WWW User Survey are now available.

This survey included questions on:

  • Basic Demographics (new questions!)
  • Web and Internet Usage
  • Data Privacy (new questions!)
  • Politics
  • Consumer Opinions and Behaviors
  • Webmasters
  • HTML Authoring, Java
  • Web Service Providers
This is the most widely quoted and consistently delivered survey of Internet users. Though there are some biases in the data, the material is very useful for presentations and business plans.

December 19, 1996

LookSmart

In the already crowded Internet navigation site market, Reader's Digest has backed a new search engine from Australia called LookSmart. This Java-based directory focuses on quality rather than quantity, hoping to address the older busy adult that is looking for general information and is frustrated by having to sift through irrelevant information at the large search engines. Categorizing 134,612 sites into 10 main subject areas such as Health & Fitness, and then further subdivided, the sites include a brief description and each category has a short list of sites. This magazine type format places LookSmart in competition with Yahoo.

There are two major differences between these two services which will help them find their own consumer and advertising market. First LookSmart certainly differs in it's approach to site inclusion. While Yahoo is not exhaustive it does not have the rigorous selection process that LookSmart is using. LookSmart's interface is also much more friendly. For advertisers LookSmart is offering non-scrolling banner placement with guaranteed time exposure. Providing an alternative to banners placed at the top of screen they place the banner at the bottom of the screen and change the banners at regular time intervals. However, we find that this model makes advertising easier to dismiss as the eye becomes accustomed to ignoring the bottom of the screen.

The directory based model of navigation is being provided in addition to search engine services by most of the major navigation services. However, impression rates are proving that users still see Excite, Lycos, and Infoseek as search engines rather than navigation services. Therefore LookSmart if marketed properly could provide an alternative to both users and advertisers due to their strategic market position. --Linda Wilson

December 18, 1996

Staying Abreast

We lucked in to a very useful service. The ZD Net Anchordesk delivers a short, easy to digest nugget about the state of technology each day in email. Today's article talked about how to understand the viability of your ISP as the web access market explodes over the next four years. Recent daily articles have covered Java, browser news, awards, trade shows and so on. It's a very quick and easy way of keeping your finger in the technology question without getting overwhelmed.

December 17, 1996

Project Cool

Project Cool is a slick looking site that serves as a good example of effective design. The site still elicits collective oohs and aahhs, without long download times. The design is also very functional with information that is well presented and easy to find. The Developer,s Zone is the best example of this. Take a look and use this site as a brush up on web design fundamentals. --Linda Wilson

December 16, 1996

Personal Casting/Push Media

In the continuing discussion on how to bring visitors back to your site, the latest discussions are focusing on "Personal Casting". Also referred to as "Push Media", these labels describe the marketing features allowed when web sites don,t have to wait for users to come back and instead deliver personal content to subscribers. Several companies are engaging in race to provide web publishers with this ability. The company usually provides free software for subscribers and hefty costs for web publishers. Backweb has created BackWeb InfoPaks, designed to enable content delivery via background downloads during a user's idle Internet connection time. However, Backweb is an expensive proposition for web publishers as their server software costs upward of $10,000. Intermind offers a more affordable alternative although commercial costs are based on usage. Web publishers who insert code and a graphic into their site called a hyperconnector can then receive feedback from subscribers and anonymous statistical and demographic information.

There are others being developed continually including Netscape Constellation, part of the new Netscape communicator software, and a product named Arrive from IFusion.com are also products that will allow users to customize and automatically receive specific chosen information. Both these products are expected to be in beta in early 1997. --Linda Wilson


Take a look at the Archives. We've indexed all the past issues with topic pointers.



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Check out the Archives....75 Weeks of Back issues including:

Week Ending December 22, 1996 Including:
  • Staying Abreast
  • Project Cool
  • Personal Casting
  • Look Smart
  • Demographics
Week Ending December 15, 1996 Including:
  • New Ad Age Supplement
  • Marketing Awards
  • Reference.com
  • Media Bistro
  • Cows at TUCOWS
Week Ending December 08, 1996 Including:
  • Lycos Changes
  • Websites That Suck
  • Ultra Whatsit
  • Excite
  • Web University
Week Ending December 01, 1996 Including:
  • Internet Commercials
  • More About Search Engines
  • Convenience Is King
  • PR Update
  • Evolution of Search Engines
  • Pathfinder Turns 2
Week Ending November 24, 1996 Including:
  • Fundamentals
  • Notable Bookmarks
  • Web Digest for Marketers
  • Effective Banners
  • Internet Fever
  • GIF Wizard
Week Ending November 17, 1996 Including:
  • Fundamentals
  • Sharrow
  • Advertising Tools
  • More Fundamentals
  • Wilson Internet Services
  • Editor and Publisher Interactive
Week Ending November 10, 1996 Including:
  • Gamelan
  • Design Excellence
  • Java
  • Superscape
  • The New 5 Ps
Week Ending November 3, 1996 Including:
  • Office Humor
  • High End and Personal
  • Net Post
  • Types of Links Redux
  • Who's Marketing Online
Week Ending October 27, 1996 Including:
  • WiReD IPO
  • Art and The Zen of Websites
  • Stalker Page
  • Dave Winer
  • Killer Websites
Week Ending October 20, 1996 Including:
  • The SOS
  • Do You Need A Website?
  • Big Boy Internets
  • 809 Phone Scam
  • Advertising Resources
Week Ending October 13, 1996 Including:
  • Little Email Things
  • Snorkeling The Web
  • Red Herring
  • Webmaster, Inc
Week Ending October 6, 1996 Including:
  • Len Duffy Interview
    • Marketing On The Web
    • Small Competitors
    • The Personal Touch
    • Integrating The Web Into Your Marketing
Week Ending September 29, 1996 Including:
  • How Much Will Your Website Cost?
  • The Jimmy Stewart Approach
  • Product Development
  • Components of Marketing
  • Back In The Saddle Again
  • Much, Much More
Complete Indexed Archives(17 months of marketing and design)

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All material on this site is © 1995, 1996 by IBN (The Internet Business Network), Mill Valley, CA 94941