Are the Internet babies back to blowing bubbles? There have been encouraging signs of increased revenues from the giants that dominate the web, and we are now witnessing evidence of smaller bubbles rising to the surface of a simmering Internet pot. Investors are now taking notice of smaller Internet darlings ... companies like knot.com, Marchex, and Miva have shown remarkable market strength and resiliance.
I am placing current bets on the GoDaddy IPO, due sometime soon. This dot-com registration site, led by Bob Parsons, knows how to manage and market itself in an otherwise low-interest category with small margins. They have wisely extended their product offerings to generate growing revenue steams as the expected registration business plateaus.
Keep a watchful eye on this one.

The Audit Bureau of Circulations has been under fire for the lack of policing policies that swirled around a number of publications overstating their circulation rate bases. Quick to "fix" this, and in an effort to disassociate themselves from the scandals, the ABC reviewed and restated their policies and invented a quick-to-market "Rapid Report", providing more timely circulation figures.

Did someone forget to let them know that the industry will move away from circulation as a basis for pricing?
This report isn't needed ... nor does it qualify as a final publisher statement.

Today, the discontent escalates as the ABC has been hit with a lawsuit alleging fraud, conspiring to overstate circulation figures.

Is the ABC is a good cop turned bad cop? Should the allegations be unfounded, the Bureau remains a good cop turned retired cop ... ineffective, unnecessary and tired. Can it be salvaged? Absolutely, but it will require an overhaul of its business process, rooted in the new vision of what the publishing industry needs to compete in the market for its share of ad dollars.

For now, the ABC remains ...Anything But Credible.

Social networking on the web has moved "back to the future" in the guise of the MySpace.com site. The site is fraught with personal postings, pseudo or otherwise, that are, in too many cases, over the top with explicit profiles.
Having negotiated the site myself, and respectful of freedom of speech, I found the "content" too sensitive for most advertisers to consider appropriate for their brands. Although the lure of millions of users (and I am using the term in an addictive sense) is appealing to marketers, there are responsible boundaries within which they must play.
MySpace needs to clean up its act....quickly.

The TIVO phenomenon has been clinging to its ever-evolving technology play for many years. Advocates and nay-sayers alike have had their ups and downs. Today, TIVO, it is reported, is on the verge of a breakthrough for advertisers as agencies and advertisers begin to embrace the technology ....but to what end. The company has yet to report a profit and advertisers are still "experimenting". How long must an experiment last before it's considered a failed effort??
Interactive television, the holy-grail dream of advertisers, agencies and the technology providers will absolutely enjoy 15 minutes of fame ... until the fickle consumer tires of the novelty. Consumers don't need nor want to control or "produce" their version of entertainment content. They want to control information and have available to them entertainment choices. Those channels are available today in a blazing array of delivery options.
And where is television content headed today? It is headed for the Internet as broadcast and cable networks open that channel to their content.
The hype will continue for a while ... and then fizzle, leaving investors holding an empty bag.

Here's an OOPS! that must have had Dell Computer climbing the walls!

Looks like QVC needs to rethink the need for a 2 second delay on its live broadcasts.

Follow this link to a video of this honest, but embarressing clip . . . .

http://send.jokaroo.com/taf/taf.php?todo=redirect&c=75464&b=pbenjou%40gmail.com