Compiled by Mark Balestra
Is there an end in sight for the debate over online advertising and consumer privacy? webwasher.com AG, a start-up based in Paderborn, Germany, thinks so. The company announced this week that it will soon introduce a suite of software designed to block unwanted information from computer Web screens by ensuring that "cookies" are never leaked over the Internet. The new component, SECLUDE-ITTM is designed to act like a key that locks out unimportant data from being loaded to a user's computer. It's intended to enable users to select the advertising and content they wish to receive and download from the Web without revealing their preferences to marketers. "... Marketers like DoubleClick will be able to serve up ads to consumers without risking the invasion of privacy that has captured recent headlines," WebWasher Director of U.S. Sales explained. He added that the impact of the ads is greatly increased of the consumer chose to see it. The full version of the new product will be launched at Spring Internet World in April.
AdForce, Inc., an online provider of centralized, outsourced ad management and delivery services announced this week the latest version of its advertising management system. The new product provides end-to-end solution for planning and scheduling advertising campaigns and includes enhanced features and new functionality designed to improve overall performance and provide a custom look and feel. For information on the upgraded software, visit www.adforce.com.
Next Century Media, American Demographics Magazine and Studio One Networks have teamed to conduct a research project--the Sponsorship Effectiveness Index (SEI)--aimed to quantify the value of Internet sponsorship. The results of the SEI will be released in early fall.
Digital River, Inc., a global leader in e-commerce outsourcing, is taking its "E-Summit" seminar on the road. As part of a global seminar tour, the Digital River B2B e-commerce seminar series began last month in Minneapolis with more than 600 senior-level executives in attendance. This month, the E-Summit will take place in Chicago, March 7, at The Westin and in New York, March 29, at The Plaza. This
year, Digital River plans to reach a total of 12 major cities worldwide, including San Francisco, Boston, and London. See http://www.digitalriver.com for more details.
A North Carolina company called InvoiceLink Corporation has launched a patent-pending, business-to-business invoicing and payment solution that enables suppliers to post invoices, account statements and process payments from trading partners via the Internet. For more information on the product, visit
Forget about getting wired, it's looking more and more like wireless is the way to go. This week, MCI WorldCom took a step in that direction by launching wireless high-speed Internet services in Jackson, Miss., Baton Rouge, La., and Memphis, Tenn. Customers in the test markets will use a pizza-sized satellite dish to connect the wireless signal with an office network at a data speed of up to 10 megabytes per second (more than 150 times faster than a regular dial-up telephone modem). A group of customers in a Jackson apartment complex will have wireless modems that enable those with laptops to roam anywhere in the complex. The service costs $39.99 per month.