User account
Recent posts
- Get the tax break that actually helps
- The Power of Change
- UKFast wins MEN Business Award
- It pays to be at the centre of attention
- Internet can be a remedy to the credit crunch
- Beat cyber attacks with prudent vigilance
- ITV's Grade - me thinks he doth protest too much!
- No technology recession
- Lies, damn lies and statistics
- The benefit of personalised home pages
Archive
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
Subscribe
Displaying posts for January 2007. Show all posts
The road to web transparency
Jonathan Bowers, January 31st 2007, 12:05PM
When I visit a website and there are no contact details that place the company in a geographical area or names of company members I am always immediately suspicious of the legitimacy of the business. Transparency is something that has always split the web between those who are open and those who seem guarded.
There are two articles in today's news that support the shift towards transparency. Studies by both Booz Allen Hamilton and Nielsen//NetRatings are warning us that businesses are not people friendly enough for the online environment.
Another step in the right direction are the new rules on disclosure of company details, which were extended to cover websites and emails at the start of this year. This means that businesses have to display their corporate name place of registration, registered number and the address of its registered office in legible characters.
E-commerce sites have additional rules to comply to as well, which all serve to help us as consumers feel safer about spending money or building relationships with the businesses that we find online.
IPTV is coming ready or not
Jonathan Bowers, January 29th 2007, 11:08AM
On one hand, we have Bill Gates, talking with abandon about TV on the Internet and how we'll look back in five years and laugh at what we once had. On the other, a new report provides a wary view of TV's future and unsurprisingly comes from a traditional broadcasting perspective.
Video online has a huge advantage having seen the mistakes and successes of the music industry and many broadcasters and online video providers have already presented a working model. If broadcasters hold back from experimenting now they are likely to be the ones who fall foul of the pirate market first.
Is it wise for traditional broadcasters to show their hesitation to move online? Those who grab the challenge and run with it have the best chance of being there in five years time when scheduled programming is the marginalised format and user preference is driving the industry.
UKFast makes the ISPA finals again
Jonathan Bowers, January 25th 2007, 2:11PM
In 2005, UKFast gained a nomination for it's hosting services from the ISPA. Against companies like Mistral and Tiscali, UKFast came out the winner despite being dwarfed by such international competition.
It's fair to say that the last two years have seen an impressive growth of more specialised ISPs dealing in the hosting market and when UKFast was a finalist again last year we were one of the more experienced names in the pot. Last year also saw a nomination in the top ISP category for Best Business ISP.
Our victory in 2006 was once again based strongly on UKFast's emphasis on customer service and we are thrilled that this year once again we are included in the final line up for both Best Business Host and Best Business ISP.
We are up against some very fine competition, so I hope you will wish us the very best of luck as we wait for the awards ceremony on February 15.
Trust is down but ad spends up online
Jonathan Bowers, January 24th 2007, 11:11AM
I got an email this morning from eBay's Head of Trust and Safety. It's a job title that you don't often come across. The role might seem odd to some but it doesn't surprise me at all.
Just today a new report is published about UK Internet user concerns, which says that four in ten of us worry about online fraud. Worry might be to light a word as the report places fear of online fraud above fear of gun crime and contracting MRSA in hospital. It's a genuine concern.
The big online companies recognise this and many are working hard to come across as transparent, genuine and user friendly. eBay's Head of Trust and Safety is on the case to reassure customers today. Garreth Griffith says "we've seen an increase in the bad experiences members face due to two factors: increased fraud across the internet and a very small proportion of sellers who fail to deliver a positive buyer experience." His email then continues by listing all the positive actions eBay are taking in the fight against fraud.
At the other end of the Net, we have advertisers recognising where consumers are going and building online awareness of offline products. Cadbury, untouched by online fraud is using outlets like YouTube this year as it ramps up it's online spend into the millions.
However, they shouldn't forget though that the other escalating fear online is that of the safety of social networking sites, who are also having to put in place measures to reassure users that they are logging on to a safe environment.
UK firms get venture capital for web projects
Jonathan Bowers, January 23rd 2007, 1:00PM
There’s an interesting piece about UK companies attracting investment in 2006 that provides an insight into some big developments coming online this year.
Paul Fisher provides a great list of all the venture capital ploughed into European companies last year. I’ve concentrated on the UK investment and it seems to present a varied mix of sectors across 21 companies.
I had expected social networking and video on demand to play a majority part but the list provides a couple of glimpses into possible future ground breakers.
Creating communities accounts for 30 per cent of the deals with companies from Bebo through to Mind Candy (Second Life potential) receiving funding. Retail sites have also done well with 4 receiving around £20m between them – the majority going to wiggle.co.uk.
An area of Web 2.0 represented less strongly is Video and audio provision, with only Last FM and web TV site Aggregator getting the nod. It’s likely that Venture capitalists are staying out of this field because of the provisions already being networked by the big national broadcasters.
Two surprise entries in the list are ticket vending sites, specialising mainly in concert and sports ticketing. The most revealing ones for me tend to revolve around new technologies. Skinkers is a device-to-device RSS tool allowing us to receive our web information in various forms and Yuuguu connects remote workers allowing them to share collaborative efforts more rewardingly and efficiently.