It has been an exciting week in the world of net neutrality. This week, Julius Genachowski, the Chairman of the FCC, announced the Commission’s intention to enter into a formal rulemaking process to codify the four principles of net neutrality currently in use and to add two more principles. The additional principles include a statement that consumers must be able to access the lawful content of their choice, subject to reasonable network management. Essentially, ISPs cannot block traffic to say, NBC Video, just because they have a partnership with Hulu. However, they still may prioritize all video content over all file sharing in order to manage the use of the network. In addition, networks must be transparent about what they are doing to manage traffic. This would give small business and direct response marketers more information about how consumers are experiencing online offerings like video advertising. Specifically, if you are providing an application for wireless devices or making videos available on sites like YouTube, you will know if some of the network providers are slowing certain services during peak hours. You will then be able to adjust your content delivery accordingly.
Electronic Retailer’sSeptember ‘09 issue featuring Montel Williams is now available online! For more information about Motel’s upcoming keynote presentation at the ERA D2C Convention on Monday, Sept. 14, click here.
Before booking your travel to Las Vegas or San Diego, you may first want to get a few tips from “Saturday Night Live” travel expert Judy Grimes.
Did you miss out on the recent networking receptions in NYC and L.A.? Click here to view pictures from various events at Electronic Retailer’s Buzz page!
Microsoft’s new search engine has garnered a lot of media attention as it seeks to directly compete with Google, especially in a time when it seems no one in their right mind seeks to compete with Google.
The giant of the search-engine industry has its fingers in every possible pie, and it’s very rare that it doesn’t come out ahead. So what are Bing’s advantages and disadvantages?
Here’s two ways of gauging its chances of survival:
1. The Product Advantage
Bing is supposed to yield more relevant search results, which may actually sway consumers over to its side. The advantage to advertisers in that relevance is more precise, target marketing, which could change their game plan as well - if, that is, Bing’s searching is in fact superior to Google’s.
The content-driven approach helps sell that relevancy claim, as the system also adds consumer comments and reviews on the search results, e.g. getting customer reviews on a restaurant from services like Yelp.com.
2. The Marketing Advantage
Google has rarely spent money on advertising its own products. Consumers are ready to jump on just about anything that Google puts out, which means that the usual big spenders in a marketing budget are moot - television ads, for example. Microsoft’s Bing may have an advantage here, as the company seems to be willing to pour a near-endless stream of funds into promoting its new product.
It’s not a bad strategy, especially since nothing short of full media saturation is likely to sway loyal Google enthusiasts. Since they have no competition in many of their outlets, it might just give Bing a chance to play with the big boy.
Peter Koeppel is a Wharton MBA and president of Koeppel Direct, a full-service media buying agency based in Dallas.
Late last week Representatives Markey (D-MA) and Eshoo (D-CA) introduced a bill that would keep the Internet open by preventing Internet service providers (ISPs) from imposing “a charge on any Internet content, service, or application provider to enable any lawful Internet content, application, or service to be offered, provided, or used. In other words, they cannot charge you (as a content provider) more than the cost of service for your lawful content and any lawful applications you make available.
The bill also prevents ISPs from providing or selling any content, application, or service provider any offering that prioritizes traffic over that of other such providers. This addresses concerns that ISPs will sell premium access to some companies, which would have the end result of degrading everyone’s content. This is important to any company that is using video online, but is not interested in paying more than they currently do to ensure the quality of the video is not reduced. It’s not easy to be moved by advertising when the video is pixilated or freezes every three seconds.
Similar bills were introduced in the last two Congresses. However, the larger Democratic majority and President Obama’s stated priority of keeping the Internet open may mean there will be some movement on this bill. However, the House will be in a District Work Period (aka recess) until after Labor Day.
In the meantime, you can watch this video.
For more information on ERA’s government affairs efforts, click here.
I just returned from New Zealand—a land known for its geographic isolation—where I met with one of the nation’s premier web development firms. While the work done in New Zealand is on par with the best in the world, the price based upon current currency disparity makes it anywhere from 35- to 40-percent less expensive. Savvy e-marketers should look beyond the proximity of any opportunity when making any cost-benefit decisions. Prior to my voyage I attended the sixth annual E-Commerce Best Practices Conference.
As usual, this year’s program addressed a wide array of current issues facing the e-commerce industry, an industry that has shattered any remaining business barriers caused by geographic isolation. They covered user-generated content, and the monetization of both that and other social media. On the legal front, we learned about the issues surrounding minors’ online activities, e-commerce patents, content aggregation and trespass issues, new threats to cybersecurity, as well as cutting-edge litigation strategies for online businesses. E-commerce companies were advised about affiliate marketing over the Internet, doing business in China. We were educated about best practices for U.S. Internet companies establishing online stores in other jurisdictions.
My general impressions were that the world we are living in is indeed flat. E-tailers are no longer constrained by geographic locations. Rather, a reasoned analysis could open a plethora of money-making opportunities based upon a number of factors.
But for me, perhaps the most exciting part of the conference was the panel titled “Best Practices for Drafting Terms of Use.â€Â Not because I have any particular love of or interest in the finer points of contract law and negotiation (I let our lawyers handle that), but because the law firm tasked with moderating this particular panel, DLA Piper, recently did some work for my company, E-Commerce Island and the related UVI Research & Technology Park (RTPark). It was work which could also directly and significantly benefit profitable electronic retailers, such as those who are providing newsletters, SaaS, online games, ringtones and/or music subscription, digital photo hosting and licensing, online education, ad serving for online marketing, online dating, video streaming, customer support and other online products and services.
DLA attorneys analyzed existing federal tax code for guidance relevant to the types of businesses the RTPark is ideally set up to serve and attract (given one of the largest concentrations of global bandwidth and an historical role as a crossroads of commerce). Several business models with standing income sourcing guidance were found, and they approached the Treasury in May and June of 2006 seeking its affirmation that the RTPark interpretation of federal law was correct. The Treasury responded favorably with temporary regulations in September 2006. Then, in April 2008, the Treasury’s permanent regulations were issued. Because USVI is a territory of the U.S, additional benefits of USVI-based e-commerce efforts include FDIC insurance as well as jurisdiction and IP protection under U.S. federal law.
So what does this mean for electronic retailers offering the above-mentioned kinds of online products? Up to 90-percent federal tax savings for income sourced in the (near-shore) USVI. These impressive benefits are all the more valuable given the administration’s recently toughening stance on off-shore corporate tax savings.
As is often the case, identical companies can significantly increase their value simply by the locations they choose to source portions of their activities from.
Steve Rohrlickis the master marketing agent for ECommerce Island, otherwise known as St. Croix, the largest island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where superior infrastructure and tax benefits under the U.S. flag offer an ideal new home for eCommerce businesses.
Mobile devices like the iPhone and G1 are letting consumers take advantage of the growing number of high-speed networks, an opportunity that e-commerce retailers are recognizing as users are increasingly using websites for shopping from mobile devices. Some people are even using their mobile devices as their primary online browser.
Any retailer looking to the growing mobile audience for new revenue should deliver shopping sites that are mobile friendly. This means paring back content – or re-organizing it – so that users can access relevant items more easily.
While wireless devices have come a long way, their screen size limits what can be displayed and still be read by the average user. Features such as panning and zooming can only compensate so much for the smaller real estate available on handhelds.
Most websites are still using cascading stylesheets (CSS) optimized for personal computers. Designing and embedding CSS specifically for mobile users will help ensure that the user experience on handheld devices is high quality. The CSS Mobile Profile 2.0 developed by the W3C (the standard-setting World Wide Web Consortium) is now available, giving retailers a widely supported standard to follow.
Other common shopping features, such as large tables of product images and Flash animation, also need to be rethought. Just a decade ago, many websites were built successfully without these features. As screen resolutions and bandwidth grew, these were added to create richer online experiences. Handheld devices may not support all of these technologies, so the emphasis should be placed on simplicity, clarity and speed. And make sure that commonly accessed features, such as viewing the shopping cart are readily reachable.
While the technical aspects of mobile are important to consider, retailers must also focus on marketing fundamentals, such as understanding the needs of this changing audience. Research and analysis on what users want and how they want to interact with your site are critical. One quick tip: use the mobile device itself to gather research information, rather than relying solely on traditional research channels.
Retailers that can use messaging, web content, e-mail, and social networking in an integrated fashion, centered on the handheld device, let users engage with their brands. A basic practice: rather than just asking for e-mail addresses on your sites, permit users to give you addresses for text messages as well, and let them know about special mobile content.
One last piece of advice: do not let mobile marketing become a new outlet for spam. Mobile devices give unprecedented access to retail customers; respecting your customers’ time will lead to longer, two-way relationships.
David King is CEO of Fulcrum, a leader in advanced analytics, technology and multichannel program solutions for marketing.
Time Warner is planning to end access to free content online by making consumers of Internet TV prove they’ve already paid for it.
As the largest owner of cable networks, which include TNT, Cartoon Network, CNN and HBO, Time Warner has been closely watching broadcasters ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX work through the process of distributing TV online. Bewkes, Time Warner CEO, is planning to provide cable programming on the web in places like Hulu, MySpace, Yahoo TV and even YouTube.
The catch: To view the content for free, you have to be able to prove that you subscribe to pay TV through cable, satellite or Telco.
Free access for those already paying for service. Beweks told Advertising Age, “If you want to watch your favorite TV network or shows through broadband on any device – PCs or mobile – you can do it as long you subscribe to any multi-channel provider.” He goes on to say, “It’s a natural extension of the existing model.”
What’s the benefit? Some media experts are skeptical of Beweks’ plans, but there are also many who feel like a change is in order. After all, a year ago most doubted Hulu would be found appealing to online users. Some fear online programming distribution could soon replace cable TV and destroy the industry.
Time Warner’s cable CEO Glen Britt sees the phenomenon of viewers dropping cable for free content online as a significant growing problem.
What do you think?
Peter Koeppel is a Wharton MBA and president of Koeppel Direct, a full-service media buying agency based in Dallas.
Watch as ERA CEO Julie Coons delivers a sneak peak of what attendees can expect from ERA’s upcoming 2009 D2C Convention in Las Vegas September 13-15. Register now!Early bird ends July 1!
It has been an exciting week in the world of net neutrality. This week, Julius Genachowski, the Chairman of the FCC, announced the Commission’s intention to enter into a formal rulemaking process to codify the four principles of net neutrality currently in use and to add two more principles. The additional principles include a statement that consumers must be able to access the lawful content of their choice, subject to reasonable network management. Essentially, ISPs cannot block traffic to say, NBC Video, just because they have a partnership with Hulu. However, they still may prioritize all video content over all file sharing in order to manage the use of the network. In addition, networks must be transparent about what they are doing to manage traffic. This would give small business and direct response marketers more information about how consumers are experiencing online offerings like video advertising. Specifically, if you are providing an application for wireless devices or making videos available on sites like YouTube, you will know if some of the network providers are slowing certain services during peak hours. You will then be able to adjust your content delivery accordingly.
Click here
In addition to its upcoming 
Microsoft’s new search engine has garnered a lot of media attention as it seeks to directly compete with Google, especially in a time when it seems no one in their right mind seeks to compete with Google.
Late last week Representatives Markey (D-MA) and Eshoo (D-CA) introduced a bill that would keep the Internet open by preventing 
I just returned from New Zealand—a land known for its geographic isolation—where I met with one of the nation’s premier web development firms. While the work done in New Zealand is on par with the best in the world, the price based upon current currency disparity makes it anywhere from 35- to 40-percent less expensive. Savvy e-marketers should look beyond the proximity of any opportunity when making any cost-benefit decisions. Prior to my voyage I attended the sixth annual E-Commerce Best Practices Conference.
Mobile devices like the iPhone and G1 are letting consumers take advantage of the growing number of high-speed networks, an opportunity that e-commerce retailers are recognizing as users are increasingly using websites for shopping from mobile devices. Some people are even using their mobile devices as their primary online browser.
Time Warner is planning to end access to free content online by making consumers of Internet TV prove they’ve already paid for it.
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