Janis Mara

Second-tier paid search provider FindWhat.com has added a new division and a new keyword bidding feature to its repertoire. Monday, FindWhat completed its acquisition of Miva Corporation, a supplier of e-commerce software and services to small and medium-sized businesses. The approximately $8 million acquisition helps FindWhat tighten its focus on these businesses. The tens of […]

Coincidence or conspiracy? Britney Spears tops Google’s list of popular queries for 2003, and Viagra ranks Number One on America Online’s 2003 “Top Ten Spam E-Mail Subject Lines,” the online giants reported in respective year-end lists. Neither America Online, the online arm of Time Warner or major search engine Google had a comment on what […]

As online marketing matures, many companies are finding privacy policies that once seemed acceptable as constricting as clothing that has been outgrown and, like a too-tight suit, must be altered. “Often, a company will create a privacy policy that seems to have all the important parts, but then turns out to be untenable in some […]

Confronted with a marketing nightmare — the first U.S. case of mad cow disease (BSE) — Web sites of many beef businesses and organizations aren’t responding. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association created a site devoted to mad cow disease, BSEinfo.org. The USDA, which broke the news Dec. 23, has essentially dedicated its homepage to the […]

Phil Goldman, founder and CEO of spam-free e-mail provider Mailblocks, died at his home the evening of Dec. 25, according to the company. Cause of death has not yet been determined and a spokesperson for the company said it might take several weeks before the results are known. Services were held Sunday at Peninsula Temple […]

Internet advertising analysts are upbeat about prospects for 2004, but they’re not indulging in the “irrational exuberance” that characterized the dotcom boom. Rather, they predict a slow and steady rate of growth. Smith Barney CFA Lanny Baker last month predicted a 20 to 25 percent increase in expenditures. Other forecasts fall within that range. “In […]

Phil Goldman, the technology leader who founded and was CEO of spam-free e-mail provider Mailblocks, died the evening of Dec. 25. Cause of death has not yet been determined. Goldman, who founded Los Altos, Calif.-based Mailblocks in 2002, was also VP of advanced TV services of Microsoft, and was a founder of WebTV Networks. He […]

Display ads, originally known as banners, are the Lazarus of online advertising. They’re staging a comeback, just after being given up as dead. Perhaps it’s more accurate to call these ads, the first type of Internet advertising to appear back in the 1990s, a sort of Mark Twain phenomenon. Reports of their demise are greatly […]

Despite the dotcom bust, the demise of the Sock Puppet and the advent of TiVO, at least two Internet companies are throwing extravagant amounts of money (and lavish creative) into Super Bowl ads this year. As the advertiser roster for the Feb. 1 Super Bowl develops, commercials for brick and mortar companies are resuming their […]

Bucking decisions made in two earlier cases, a U.S. District Judge this week enjoined New York adware company WhenU from popping up a competitor’s ads over plaintiff 1-800 Contacts’ Web site. Saying users of WhenU’s desktop software might be confused about the source of the pop-up ads, New York District Judge Deborah A. Batts said […]

In the wake of New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s $20 million lawsuit against an alleged New York-based spam ring, marketers have been put on notice that they could be held responsible for the actions of their affiliates. One of the defendants in the case, Synergy6 president Justin Champion, said he and his company were […]

Zooming its way to a new, upscale market for its Amanti sedan, Kia is using online advertising to lead into a January print and television media blitz. The Korea-based car manufacturer, known for its humorous ads and economically priced cars, is accelerating its drive toward more upscale vehicles with the Amanti. Online ads are currently […]