New Media Age articles from February 2002

New Media Age archives from February 2002

US case raises worries for UK pay-for-place search engines.
February 7, 2002... A $400m ([pounds sterling]282m) compensation claim launched in a US court this week has raised fears that the rapidly growing pay-for-placement search engine sector could be stopped in its tracks. The move has worried UK advertisers who...

CA calls for clarity over reverse billing.
February 7, 2002... The Consumers' Association has demanded that the UK's mobile network operators admit responsibility for premium rate SMS services. The CA says they have a duty to begin a programme of consumer education on the potential perils of...

Pop Idol winner site ready ahead of final vote.
February 7, 2002... BMG Records is putting the finishing touches to the site of the winning contestant of the hugely popular Pop Idol TV show. The label, whose RCA label head of A&R Simon Cowell is one of the show's judges, has signed up URLs for the last two...

IPPR accuses Government of lacking vision for broadband. (News).
February 7, 2002... The Government's latest effort to drive broadband take-up in the UK has drawn fire from leading centre-left think tank, the Institute for Public Policy Research. It believes E-commerce Minister Douglas Alexander's pledge yesterday (6...

Mobile partners target operators keen to market. (News).
February 7, 2002... Mobile network operators wishing to launch their own marketing pushes are being targeted by a new partnership of Flytxt and Logica. This is one of the first times a mobile marketing company has directly targeted operators, often seen as...

SMS soccer quiz game launches. (News).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Littlewoods Leisure, the football pools firm, is launching a SMS football game with a [pounds sterling]5,000 top prize. The game, called Shoot2Win, lets players sign up for free by SMS or on the Web site. The player is then charged 20p per...

Bluestreak set for expansion into Europe. (News).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Ad serving technology company Bluestreak plans to expand into Europe on the back of a strong first quarter of operation in the UK. US-based Bluestreak moved into the UK in September, buying Engage's AdKnowledge ad-serving technology and...

Aspinalls makes deal to promote games on GMTV site. (News).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Online casino Aspinalls.com has signed a 12-month deal with GMTV.co.uk, to promote its games to the GMTV.co.uk audience. GMTV.co.uk will promote Aspinalls to its users and they will be able to access the gambling firm's Caribbean Casino...

NTL revamps main portal. (News).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... NTL, the broadband services firm, has revamped its main portal ntlworld.com. The new site has an added Love Channel that will include the ability for NTL digital TV customers to text each other via the TV. The site also features an improved...

Rugby Union offers Six Nation highlights on Sportev service. (News).
February 7, 2002... England rugby body, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) has teamed up with sports rights specialist Sportev to offer video highlights of England's home games in the ongoing Six Nations tournament. Registered users of the RFU site will be able to...

Ambitious iTV plans drain BBC interactive budget for 2002. (News).
February 7, 2002... The BBC's iTV unit has already spent its entire budget for the next financial year and is looking to outsource more work to third parties. The department has scheduled a number of new interactive services for the coming year as well as...

Teletext boosts message pages. (News).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Teletext is extending its SMS-to-screen message board following the success of pages of its service for the hit TV show Pop Idol. In trials, Teletext has also run time-limited general chat pages, but is now staging a full launch with pages...

First Direct to launch one-press iTV advert. (News).
February 7, 2002... First Direct next week launches the first iTV ad to let viewers complete orders with one button press. The new instant response ad has been developed in conjunction with Sky and makes use of the data held on each customer by Sky. It's the...

BT CEO to clarify broadband plans. (News).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... New BT CEO Ben Verwaayen is expected to clarify the firm's plans for broadband charges with today's release of its results (7 February). There have been reports that the firm plans to cut its broadband charges by as much as half. A...

Safedoor to provide secure transactions for supanet. (News Breaking).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... ISP firm Supanet has signed up SafeDoor to provide a secure transactions system on the shopping area of its newly relaunched portal. SafeDoor, which is owned by Securicor, has developed a system where credit card details are not sent over the...

QXL Ricardo says it has enough funds to get to profit in 2004. (News Breaking).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... European auctioneer QXL Ricardo insists its has enough cash to take it to profitability in 2004 after posting pre-tax losses of [pounds sterling]7.1m for the final quarter of 2001. The company denied its plan to push its co-branded service...

BBCi aims for youth audience with beasts SMS game. (News Breaking).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... The BBC's interactive arm, BBCi, hopes to win a younger audience with a new SMS game based on its Walking with Beasts title. The game will initially be available to Vadafone and mm02 contract customers, but the BBC hopes to extend this to the...

NetBenefit provides protection for online property. (News).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... NetBenefit has launched a new suite of domain name management services, designed to enable companies to better manage and protect their online intellectual property. The services include access to Net-Benefit's NetNames brand management...

Beeb.com joins CarPriceCheck to launch car locator service. (News).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Beeb.com, the shopping portal joint venture between BBC Worldwide and US VC THLi, has launched a new car locator service with automotive e-business company CarPriceCheck. The service, which will be available on the BBC Top Gear Shopping Guide,...

Feisty Valentine's message with Lycos online game. (News).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Lycos has re-designed its online game Fight Club to coincide with Valentine's Day. The Valentine's overhaul is designed to demonstrate the game's flexibility for advertisers as a viral marketing tool. The game will enable users to replace...

SurfControl reports pre-tax losses for the half year. (News).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Pre-tax losses at SurfControl increased in the half year to the end of December, from $38.4m ([pounds sterling]27m) in the same period last year, to $39m ([pounds sterling]27.4m). This came despite turnover rising 50% to $24.4m ([pounds...

Asserta and Rightmove look to offset charges with marketing. (News).
February 7, 2002... Assertahome and Rightmove have ramped up their marketing activity, claiming that the introduction of charges will soon see estate agents drastically cut back the number of sites they advertise with. Rightmove introduced charges at the...

Lawyers advise stricter terms after Kodak error. (News).(mispriced cameras on Kodak.com)
February 7, 2002... Lawyers are warning e-tailers to draw up their terms of trade with extreme caution after Kodak.com reportedly lost [pounds sterling]2m attempting to pacify angry customers. The company was forced into a U-turn and honoured orders of cameras...

Asda @t home set for launch. (News).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Supermarket chain Asda has finally unveiled its t-commerce service, which will be available on the Sky Active from the end of next month. The launch of Asda @t Home on iTV comes more than a year after the company originally planned for the...

Levi's engineers online campaign. (News).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Levi's this month launches a pan-European online ad campaign to support the launch of its new range of Engineered Jeans. The campaign features a promotional microsite and uses Tangozebra's DHTML Eyeblasters. Breaking on 21 February,...

Universal Records aims high with new e-marketing drive. (News).
February 7, 2002... Universal Records' acts, including George Michael and Afroman, are expected to benefit from a renewed e-marketing drive following investment in a centralised CRM campaign management system. The label's new media department said the bespoke...

Habbo appoints safety officer. (News).(Wendy Mcauliffe)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Teen community site Habbo Hotel has appointed its first safety and privacy officer in a move to further tighten security against infiltration by paedophiles. The new appointment is part of Habbo Hotel's plan to become actively involved...

Rank offers pay-to-play across digital platforms. (News).(Rank Interactive Gaming)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Global leisure group Rank has created a dedicated gaming division which is in the process of launching a range of gaming services across digital platforms. Rank Interactive Gaming, a 100%-owned subsidiary, is being headed by Damian Cope,...

Booksdirect launches flat-rate partnership programme. (News).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Bertelsmann-owned bookclubs site BooksDirect.co.uk has launched a flat-rate partnership programme for affiliates, partners and media owners. Under the terms of the programme partners will pay a flat fee per membership, rather than a standard...

Fifteen to One's audience can play along for [pounds sterling]1 a game. (News).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Channel 4s is to launch an interactive version of its afternoon quiz show Fifteen to One. From the end of February, Sky Digital viewers will be able to play the game for [pounds sterling]1 a time, answering the same questions as the studio...

Betinternet prepares to benefit from World Cup. (News).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Betinternet.com says it feels well placed to benefit from the football World Cup in Japan and Korea this summer, after revealing that 62% of its online betting revenues and 45% of its clients come from South East Asia. In results for the half...

Digital Classics secures a three year deal with NTL. (News).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Niche TV channel Digital Classics has secured a three-year carriage deal with cable firm NTL. From May, NTL's digital cable subscribers will have access to Digital Classics TV.

T-Motion and Disney launch Monsters [pounds sterling]1m lottery on WAP. (News).
February 7, 2002... T-Motion, the mobile portal of One2One, is launching two major WAP promotions with Disney and Hallmark as it looks to boost uptake of WAP services via large brands. Tomorrow the portal launches a [pounds sterling]1m WAP lottery in...

iVillage cuts back on staff. (News).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Women's portal iVillage.co.uk is cutting staff from 54 to 45 as it moves away from content building towards offering community and consumer services. Phil Rooke, CEO of the UK operation, said there were still too many players in the sector...

Spurs trials online ticket sales for March launch. (News).
February 7, 2002... Tottenham Hotspur Football Club is set to become the first Premier-ship club to sell tickets online. The club is currently ironing out technical and contractual obstacles and hopes to have the online ticketing service up and running by the...

Baltimore Technologies sells majority stake to CGI. (Finance).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Baltimore Technologies has sold a majority stake in its Japanese reseller to raise fresh working capital. The sale of 43% of Baltimore Technologies Japan (BTJ) to investment fund CGI raised [yen]900m ([pounds sterling]4.8m) in cash for the...

EnterpriseAsia increases holding in Part-time.com.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... AIM-listed investor EnterpriseAsia.com has increased its stake in far eastern recruitment site Part-time.com. It has invested a further HK$4.5m ([pounds sterling]0.4m) in Part-time's parent company Cybermax Network Technology. This will take...

Getmedia admits to a disappointing performance. (Finance).(year to August 31, 2001)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Ofex-listed Getmedia, formerly Songplayer, has admitted to a disappointing performance in the year to 31 August 2001. While turnover was up from [pounds sterling]8,430 in 2000 to [pounds sterling]53.287, pretax losses widened by 65% to [pounds...

PricewaterhouseCoopers reveals VC investments down. (Finance).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... VCs invested $36.Sbn ([pounds sterling]25.7bn) in US companies last year, according to new figures from PricewaterhouseCoopers, significantly down on the $99.6bn ([pounds sterling]70.3bn) invested in 2000. However, the figure is nearly double...

Virtual Internet to give up .pro control even if takeover fails. (Finance).
February 7, 2002... Virtual Internet, the hosting and brand protection firm, is to cede control of its RegistryPro joint venture with Register.com, which managed the .pro domain, even if the latter's takeover bid fails. Domain registration firm Register made a...

Webcasts fail to make profits. (Finance).(for Arthur Shaw and Co.)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Failure to make any meaningful revenues from Webcasts has led to sharply increased losses for listed media and engineering group Arthur Shaw & Co. Turnover for the year to 30 September 2001 was [pounds sterling]6.4m, compared to [pounds...

Cyan Technology close to raising [pounds sterling]3m round. (Finance).
February 7, 2002... Cambridge-based Cyan Technology has raised [pounds sterling]2m in second-round funding ahead of its European launch, but expects to increase this by another [pounds sterling]1m within a few weeks. The company develops chips which allow...

Responding to hard times. (Investor Speak).(venture capital)
February 7, 2002... VENTURE FINANCE FOR early-stage IT companies is very difficult to access just now-and a good thing too. In one way it's the most promising sign of all. The last time we saw an environment like this was in the early 1990s. At that time few...

Axiom profit in sight following HgCapital second-round funds. (Finance).
February 7, 2002... Axiom Systems, a company which makes software to help mobile operators deliver services to consumers, has secured $11m ([pounds sterling]7.8m) in second-round funding. The money was raised from investment firm HgCapital and, according to...

Marketwatch. (Finance).
February 7, 2002... THE STOCK MARKETS IN BOTH London and New York slipped back last week, more so among the technology indices. The TechMark All Share was down 2.8% at 1,353 points by the end of the week, while the Nasdaq Composite was 1.4% lower, closing at 1,911...

Deal Focus. (Finance).(Aspinalls Online and GMTV)
February 7, 2002... Who's involved? Aspinalls Online, the online gambling firm, and GMTV, the morning TV news show on ITV. What are they doing? Through a new partnership, Aspinalls will get to promote its online gaming offering to the GMTV.co.uk audience....

HNC adopts Adeptra system to keen in touch with customers. (Technology).
February 7, 2002... Adeptra, the response solution expert, is to integrate its two-way alert system with HNC's decision management software, giving it access to 60% of UK credit card holders. The link of the two technologies enables issuers to automatically...

Culturejam builds single use Web billing solution. (Technology).
February 7, 2002... A pay-per-view Web billing solution that prevents content being used more than once has been developed by streaming firm Culturejam.tv. The system is phone based and doesn't involve credit cards or drop-dialling. Instead, micropayments are...

Emblaze finds partner for animation plan. (Technology).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Mobile media solutions company Emblaze Systems has gone into a partnership deal with Digital Animations Group to bring character animation to Emblaze's wireless multimedia streaming platform. A service is in development to enable virtual...

Kabira develops WAP charging. (Technology).(agreement with VoluBill)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Infrastructure software firm KabiraTechnology is joining with VoluBill, a content and billing solutions firm, to offer L7 a mobile charging solution. This brings VoluBill into Kabira's EcoSystem Partner Program, a network of manufacturers,...

Mobile sales up 12% in 2001 despite slump in last quarter. (Technology).(according to Canalysis)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Mobile device sales were down 19% in the final quarter of 2001 compared to that period in 2000. For the year, though, sales were up 12%, according to figures from market analysts Canalys. Palm was the leading firm in Europe's mobile device...

Greenstreet distributes game title through Softwrap. (Technology).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Software publisher Greenstreet is distributing its new puzzle game Super Bubble Pop using technology from British firm Softwrap to 'shrink-wrap' the software. This allows programs to be distributed digitally with security and free trial...

Thus gives speed links to Scottish universities network. (Technology).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Web services company Thus will provide high-speed links to the Scottish extension of SuperJanet4, a network linking UK universities. The network, run by Ukerna (UK Education and Research Networking Association), will be upgraded, with better...

Pogo launches first colour mobile Internet device. (Technology).(Pogo Technology Pogo PDA)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
February 7, 2002... Pogo Technology has launched the first colour mobile Internet device in the UK. The Pogo, which includes a phone, MP3 player, email and Web browser, went on sale in 20 Carphone Warehouse stores this week. In an exclusive deal, it will be rolled...

TDK Systems to launch Compaq Bluetooth enabler. (Technology).(TDK Systems Bluepaq)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... TDK Systems Europe is to launch a Bluetooth enabler for the Compaq's PDA the iPaq. The Bluepaq, enabling wireless communication with other Bluetooth-enabled devices, will ship in Europe and the US from the end of the month.

4i Designs site for Discovery Channel Fitness show. (Agencies).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Convergent media agency 4i has designed a microsite far Discovery Channel's Fighting Fit series. The site contains a number of fitness facts, tips and links as well as a section containing frequently asked questions about joining a gym.

Cimex launches design site for Thames Millennium Bridge. (Agencies).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Full-service agency Cimex has launched a new site for the Thames Millennium Bridge. The site is a comprehensive record of the commission, design, opening and subsequent closure of the bridge. It also explains the suspension design, 'sideways...

Trading Standards. (Agency Wins).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... New media design agency Black Pig has been appointed by Trading Standards to be a Web design and development partner for the national Consumer Education Resource and Information Centre (CEdRIC) project, which launches in July. The agency will...

New Mind. (Agency Wins).(two new contracts)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... New mind, the Liverpool-based new media agency, has won two new contracts for the Liverpool Business Centre and Liverpool Strategic Housing Partnership. The agency will build a site for the business centre that will pool the resources of the...

Scotland on Line. (Agency Wins).(contract with Standard Life)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Scotland On Line, the ISP and new media publisher, has won a [pounds sterling]500,000 contract with Standard Life to upgrade and redesign the insurers online service for independent financial advisors. The ISP will design, build, host and...

KPMG and CapGemini bring new media spin-offs back in. (Agencies).
February 7, 2002... KPMG Consulting has rolled its digital spin-off Metrius Europe back into the group, in the same week as CapGemini Ernst & Young has confirmed it's integrating its own interactive division Darestep further within the group. Metrius is now...

Fernhart helps Domino's multi-channel integration. (Agencies).
February 7, 2002... Interactive commerce agency Fernhart is moving into the enterprise services sector with its first engagement for Domino's Pizza. The agency has been signed to consult with Domino's on its multi-channel retailing operations, its e-services...

Halogen withdraws to Sweden. (Agencies).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... E-business consultant Halogen has liquidated its UK business and withdrawn to its home market of Sweden. The firm now claims to be working to restructure its business. Halogen has also shelved ambitious plans to set up a network of...

Starcom folds digital wing into main body. (Agencies).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Media planning/buying agency Starcom Motive has folded its new media arm, Starcom IP, into the main agency. The new media planners have joined the integrated planning operation, which comes under a new unit called the Strategy and...

Selfridges launches first mobile ads in Valentine's Day campaign. (Marketing).
February 7, 2002... Selfridges launches its first ever mobile-based marketing push today (7 February) with a Valentine's Day themed promotion. In-store posters, leaflets and plasma screens invite shoppers to SMS in the star sign and gender of their loved one,...

Shell ads focus on green sites. (Marketing).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Oil company Shell is targeting sites frequented by environmentalists and scientists, including Environmental News Network (enn.com), with ads devised to improve its corporate identity. The campaign, which includes a range of DHTML ads,...

Sky deal aids Totopools in bid for footie punters. (Marketing).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Web-based pools service Totopools is stepping up its bid to target football punters online by securing deals with two of the largest hosts of official football club sites. Totopools has teamed up with both Premium TV, which hosts nearly...

Rangers email wins it more fans. (Marketing).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... A prize-incentivised email push by Glasgow Rangers FC, targeted at tens of thousands of addresses, resulted in a 35% increase in registered users to rangers.co.uk. Email marketing and eCRM firm Limone Media ran the campaign, which offered...

BTA supports on and offline UK tourism campaign. (Marketing).(British Tourist Authority)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... The British Tourist Authority (BTA) is backing up an offline 'UK OK' campaign focusing on the Queen's Golden Jubilee and the Commonwealth Games this year, with additions to its site and an online campaign kicking off next month. Agency Euro...

EDirect24 launches first campaign on Freeserve. (Marketing).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... eDirect24.com, an online resource for those looking to find technology solutions providers, is launching its first campaign an Freeserve. The site is placing banner ads and will be sponsoring content on Clearlybusiness.com, the joint venture...

National Aids Trust creates awareness microsite. (Marketing).
February 7, 2002... The National Aids Trust has launched an awareness-raising microsite, areyouhivpre]udiced .org, which it will promote through sites including Yahool, eBay and Channel4.com. Saatchi & Saatchi Vision devised the online survey, which is aimed at...

Habbo Hotel extends ad partnership with Clearasil. (Marketing).
February 7, 2002... The graphical chat and gaming environment for teenagers, Habbo Hotel, is extending its partnership with Clearasil. The Clearasil Cinema in the virtual hotel will be driving traffic to faceofthefuture.tv, which is Clearasil's site for its...

KPN demands price drops from Dutch rivals. (International).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... KPN Mobile has this week lodged four complaints with the Dutch regulator OPTA demanding that its competitors lower their interconnect charges to the same level as its own. If this complaint is not upheld KPN will be increasing its own charges,...

Jobpilot predicts move into profitability within six months. (International).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... The German-based European recruitment site network Jobpilot is claiming that it'll move into the black within the next six months after reporting losses of [euro]21.2 ([pounds sterling]12.8m) in 2001. The company reported that without the...

Amazon takes on lot as European VP and CEO for troubled French operation. (International).(Thomas Lot)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Amazon has appointed a new VP and general manager for Europe, following the resignation of incumbent Philipp Humm. Former Apple executive Thomas Lot will be filling the position, as well as taking on the task of trying to turn around the...

BT ignite to make German staff cuts in restructure. (International).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... BT is preparing to lay off workers from the German arm of its international broadband IP business BT Ignite. These cuts will come as part of a wider review of the entire BT Ignite operation. The division currently employs 18,000 people, 1,500...

US Government and business unite in battle against spam. (International).
February 7, 2002... The US has declared a war on spam on three fronts, with Government, industry and trade associations all joining forces to close down junk emailers and prevent irresponsible electronic marketing. The move follows increasing concerns that the...

Urbia rescued by direct marketer's acquisition. (International).(Konzept-Dialog)
February 7, 2002... A German Web start-up that aimed to become Europe's top cross-media brand for family matters has been saved from the brink of oblivion. Urbia.com has been bought by direct marketing firm Konzept-Dialog for an unknown amount, months after...

Radicchio studies m-standard. (International).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Radicchio, the international wireless industry body, has begun a fact-finding mission ahead of its March summit, to promote a framework for secure mobile transactions. The non-profit group has taken on Ernst & Young and Secartis to find...

Kazaa ignores closure ruling. (International).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Dutch file-swapping service Kazaa is remaining open for business in defiance of a district court order demanding it close. The company behind Kazaa is evaluating the decision of the Amsterdam court, which may turn out to be inapplicable...

Bluetooth developments. (Trends).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Bluetooth wireless technology will move beyond just cable replacement in the next few years, states a report from marketing consultancy Frost & Sullivan. Bluetooth applications are being developed to provide email and Web access, personal...

iTV boom predicted. (Trends).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... The iTV market is set for rapid growth over the next four years, especially in the US, says a report from research firm Cahners ln-Stat/MDR. On-demand services should create the most interest, with the number of users worldwide expected to jump...

Execs flumoxed by texts. (Trends).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... A third of executives receiving business-related text messages don't really understand them. According to a survey by the Mobile Data Association of 800 managers, some 80% of executives regularly receive text messages. 18% struggled to decipher...

American click with web music. (Trends).(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Music downloads are continuing to grow in popularity in the US, according to findings from survey company Ipsos-Reid. It found that over 23% of Americans over the age of 12 (around 50m people) have downloaded music from the Internet. 27% of...