Report: PayPal to start mobile pay service

Paypal, a company owned by EBay, said that they would start allowing customers to pay for their purchases uses their cell phones. Companies with certain technologies in place could transfer their bill of sale to Paypal and then have it paid through a mobile device. The service could be available as early as next year. The example given in the article said this: "A person could visit the Web site for a pizza parlor or concert-ticket vendor using the Web browser on a cell phone or other mobile device like a BlackBerry, for instance, and make a payment using PayPal, the newspaper said." Also, people will be able to transfer money via text message in the near future.

This has benefits for Paypal and the companies who support this technology. Where available, it would allow the businesses to have up-to-date ways for their customers to pay for their products and services and also have an added convenience. Paypal would also obviously benefit through increased usage of their website and services. This is just one of the many new ways Web 2.0 is penetrating our everyday lives. This and other new technologies are making out lives easier and allowing businesses like Paypal who take advantage of Web 2.0 to reach a new level of advertising and e-marketing.

Article Website: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/business/news/article_1282151.php/Report_PayPal_to_start_mobile_pay_service

YouTube Scores 'March Madness' Content Deal

YouTube and CBS signed a deal so that clips of the NCAA tournament could be played on the website. Recently YouTube, owned by Google, has come under fire due to the many copyright issues the site faces. I personally think it is good for companies to work out deals with YouTube because it is one of the latest and greatest ways to get your product advertised. The word-of-mouth advertising that results from popular YouTube clips is cheaper and more effective than alternate methods. The article says the clips will be aired on a special YouTube network and GM will be the advertising sponsor. So not only is this good for CBS and its March Madness ratings, but it is good for GM. As we have recently been studying in class the best way to get customers involved and excited about a site, or product, is to let them be involved. This goes along with Web 2.0. Since YouTube allows users to comment on the clips it gets them involved and increases the sites success. More television networks should work out deals with YouTube so that their content will be used legally and they will still be getting compensation for their copyrighted work.

Wikipedia Challenges Google and Yahoo

An article on dailytech.com discusses how Wikipedia wants to challenge Yahoo and Google with their search engines. The founder of Wikipedia Jimmy Wales says "there's nothing really special about how Google and Yahoo perform searches, and that there is a misconception about a company like Google. "The idea that Google has some edge because they've got super-duper rocket scientists may be a little antiquated now." The article goes on to talk about how the website has grown with the help of the ever growing online community. This growing group of people could have what it takes to push the boundaries of search engines past that of Yahoo and Google.

The possibility of Wikipedia coming out on top in the realm of search engines, with the help of many collections of experts and communities, has relevance in e-marketing for a couple of reasons. If it were possible to alter the way people search for information and improve upon what is considered standard, it would definitely change the way we look at the internet. A bigger market share of the search engine industry would bring more advertising and e-marketing opportunities.

Link to the Article:
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=6413

13 Most Embarrassing Web Moments

As we all know the Internet isn't the safest place to hide secrets. It actually isn't safe at all, and unfortunately many people have to face the damage caused by embarrassing moments due to the ease of web posting. In this article it listed some of the top moments caught on the web. The article mentioned AOL's mistake of posting 658,000 users search records, and as a result they were sued. CNN was quick to pull access to pre-written obituaries of several famous people including Dick Cheney, Fidel Castro, and Nelson Mandela. For everyone that still thinks it is safe to send e-mails with no backfire, a British man had his lawyer send an e-mail to his secretary telling her she had to pay him for spilling ketchup on his pants and she decided to publicly humiliate him and reveal what he had done (he resigned, of course not b/c of the incident). The article lists several other incidents, but it just goes to prove the point that we all sometimes forget-NOTHING is safe on the Internet. So just remember next time you want to post something on your homepage, myspace, or facebook...it could come back to haunt you.