Hawaii Governor Vetoes Amazon Tax Law
- Posted by Mike Sachoff in MAKE MONEY ONLINE, WEBSITE SEO |
- 0 Comments
Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle has vetoed a bill that would have required online retailers such as Amazon.com and Overstock.com to collect and pay sales tax on their affiliate programs within the state.
Earlier this week both Amazon and Overstock had notified affiliates in the state that they would be ending their programs there due to the new tax requirements.
Linda Lingle
"I am vetoing this bill immediately to help ensure Hawai’i is not economically hurt by legislation that was not well thought-out and would have negative consequences for non-profits such as the University of Hawai’i bookstore, and businesses throughout our State," Governor Lingle said. 
"I am hopeful by vetoing this bill that mainland-based companies will promptly restore their relationships with our State."
Amazon said in an email it would be willing to re-open its associates program in Hawaii if the tax law was vetoed.
"In the event that Hawaii’s governor vetoes this tax collection scheme, and that veto is not overridden, or in the event the law eventually is repealed, we would certainly be happy to re-open our associates program to Hawaii residents," Amazon said.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger also vetoed similar legislation that would have forced online retailers to collect and pay taxes on their affiliate programs within the state.
"I vetoed the majority vote tax increase passed by the legislature. With unemployment at an all time high, we should be doing everything we can to - keep jobs and create jobs - in California," Governor Schwarzenegger said.
"That is why my Administration immediately contacted Overstock.com when we learned of this news and, I am pleased to announce Overstock.com has reversed its decision and will continue to do business with affiliates here in California."
Amazon and Overstock have pulled the plug on affiliate programs in North Carolina and Rhode Island due to similar tax collection schemes. Both companies have signaled they would be open to restarting their programs in those states if the tax laws were repealed.
 
Entertainment Sites Attract 55 Million Americans In May
- Posted by Mike Sachoff in MAKE MONEY ONLINE, WEBSITE SEO |
- 0 Comments
Nearly 55 million Americans visited an entertainment news site in May 2009, representing a 7 percent increase over the previous year, according to a new report from comScore.
Online video has also played an increasingly important role for content in the category, with the number of videos viewed growing 53 percent in the past year.
"With more than one out of every four U.S Internet users visiting an entertainment news site each month, it’s clear that following entertainment and celebrity culture has become a popular online pastime," said Jack Flanagan, comScore executive vice president.
"What’s also interesting is that Americans are feeding their hunger for celebrity gossip by ’snacking’ on these news updates throughout the workday. In fact, nearly half of all time spent on entertainment news sites comes from work computers."
Overall, Americans spent more than 893 million minutes or 15 million hours on entertainment news sites, with 44 percent of the total time spent during work.
More than a quarter of Internet users visited an entertainment news site in May. omg!, Yahoo’s celebrity focused site, proved most popular with 20.6 million visitors, nearly doubling its audience in the past year. TMZ landed in the second position with 9.9 million visitors (up 7% over a year ago), followed by People with 8.2 million visitors.
Significant gains were seen by Usmagazine.com, up 325 percent to 6.5 million visitors, Entertainment Weekly, up 64 percent to nearly 4 million visitors, and The Insider, which grew 215 percent to 2.5 million visitors.
"May was one of the heaviest months on record for entertainment news consumption, but it will almost certainly be surpassed in June with the shocking news of Michael Jackson’s death driving high volumes of traffic to these sites," added Mr. Flanagan.
"While most entertainment news sites will see gains in June, TMZ is primed for an especially big month as the first outlet to report the news, which generated thousands of inbound links to the site."
In April 2009, 34.8 million videos were viewed on entertainment news sites, an increase of 52 percent compared to a year ago. TMZ led the category with 2 million video viewers and 10.3 million videos viewed. More than 1.7 million viewers watched 3.8 million videos at omg!, while ETOnline attracted 1.5 million viewers who watched 3.9 million videos.
Boston Globe Rolls Out Digital Newspaper
- Posted by Mike Sachoff in MAKE MONEY ONLINE, WEBSITE SEO |
- 0 Comments
The Boston Globe announced today the launch of GlobeReader, a new digital version of the newspaper that can be read offline or online.
With GlobeReader the content of the Globe is downloaded daily to a subscriber’s desktop, laptop or netbook, in a format aimed at resembling the look and feel of the print version of the Boston Globe.  A preview edition is currently available to Globe subscribers. Plans for further expansion are in the works.
"GlobeReader is another important step toward our goal of being able to publish The Boston Globe on whichever platform our readers and advertisers value, and builds on the success we’ve seen with other platforms such as mobile devices and Kindle," said Susan Hunt Stevens, SVP digital.
Features of the GlobeReader include:
-  It’s organized into sections familiar to Globe readers.  
- The navigation is easy and clear. 
  -  Scanning for stories or photos is fast.  
- Articles are set in the same type font as the paper and the page design is understated and clean. 
Readability features include adjustable type size and screen size.
The Globe’s new digital newspaper is powered by Adobe Flex and Adobe Air, part of the Adobe Flash Platform. While online GlobeReader users can search Boston.com for more features such as slide shows, videos and interactive graphics.
"Leveraging Adobe AIR, the new GlobeReader showcases the future of digital publishing and helps The Boston Globe to deliver a highly readable experience with a closer, more consistent connection to subscribers regardless of what computer operating system they use," said David Wadhwani, general manager of the Platform Business Unit at Adobe Systems.
Amazon Ends Affiliate Program In Hawaii
- Posted by Mike Sachoff in MAKE MONEY ONLINE, WEBSITE SEO |
- 0 Comments
Amazon.com is continuing with its policy to abandon its affiliates program in any state that even considers legislation that would force the online retailer to collect and pay sales tax.
Rebecca Madigan
This time Amazon has eighty-sixed its affiliate program in Hawaii. Amazon informed its affiliates Monday, in an email, it was ending its relationship with residents in Rhode Island over tax a collection law passed by the general assembly.  The company has also terminated its affialte program in North Carolina due to similar proposed legislation.
Amazon notified it Hawaii affiliates of its decision in an email. "We were forced to take this unfortunate action in anticipation of actual enactment because of the uncertainty and timing of a veto, and the possibility that a veto could be overridden. The governor has until July 15 to veto the bill but, as indicated, the bill has an effective date of July 1," the e-mail said.
"In the event that Hawaii’s governor vetoes this tax collection scheme, and that veto is not overridden, or in the event the law eventually is repealed, we would certainly be happy to re-open our associates program to Hawaii residents."
Other states considering similar legislation include California and Connecticut. New York passed such legislation last year, and Amazon has  begun collecting sales tax there as it challenges the law in court.
"It’s one of those things that on the surface looks interesting, but we believe the states are just shooting themselves in the foot," Rebecca Madigan, the founder of an affiliate trade group called the Performance Marketing Alliance told The Wall Street Journal.
 
Search Engine Ads More Helpful Than Banner Ads
- Posted by Mike Sachoff in MAKE MONEY ONLINE, WEBSITE SEO |
- 0 Comments
Over one-third of Americans (37%) say that television ads are the most helpful in making their purchase decision while 17 percent say newspaper ads are most helpful and 14 percent say the same about Internet search engine ads, according to a new AdweekMedia/Harris Poll.
Radio ads (3%) and Internet banner ads (1%) are considered to be the least helpful by many people. Over one-quarter of Americans (28%), say that none of these types of advertisements are helpful to them in the purchase decision making process.
Half of people aged 18-34 (50%) say televsion ads are the most helpful while 31 percent of those 55 and older say they find newspaper ads to be the most helpful. There is also a small regional difference. Forty percent of Southerners say they find television ads most helpful, while only 33 percent of Midwesterners feel the same.
Nearly half of Americans (46%) say they tend to ignore banner ads. Internet search engine ads fare better (17% of people ignore), television ads (13%), radio ads (9%), and newspapers ads (6%). Nine percent of Americans say they do not ignore any of these types of ads.
There are age and regional differences. Half of those aged 35-44 and 51 percent of Midwesterners say they ignore Internet banner ads compared to 43 percent of 18 -34 year olds as well as Easterners and Southerners. Among Americans 18-34 years old (20%) say they ignore Internet search engine ads while 20 percent of those 55 and older say they ignore television ads.
iPhone 3GS Drives Blog Buzz In June
- Posted by Mike Sachoff in MAKE MONEY ONLINE, WEBSITE SEO |
- 0 Comments
Apple was the top hardware manufacturer site in May 2009, with 55.7 million unique visitors and an average time spent per person of 1 hour and 14 minutes, according to a new report from Nielsen Online.
Excitement surrounding the new iPhone 3GS sent blog mentions up 1,226 percent week-over-week on June 8, the day of the announcement. After the initial announcement, buzz dipped but picked up again after the phone became available on June 19, with blog mentions more than doubling compared to the prior week.
More than a third (37%) of online U.S. adults own a game console, while 10 percent plan on purchasing a new console in the next 12 months.
Game console brands also proved popular online destinations in May. Among game console brands, Nintendo had the largest unique audience with 2.2 million, while Sony Computers Entertainment was the fastest growing, increasing 16 percent year-over-year.
Among the current game consoles, Nintendo Wii was the most popular console owned by online adults, with 14.3 percent. Playstation 2 continues to be the top console owned, despite being an older console, with 17.3 percent of online adults in possession of one.
 
Yahoo Names New VP Of Marketing
- Posted by Mike Sachoff in MAKE MONEY ONLINE, WEBSITE SEO |
- 0 Comments
Yahoo has named Penny Baldwin as its senior vice president, of global integrated marketing and brand management.
Baldwin takes on the newly created position immediately and reports to Yahoo’s chief marketing officer, Elisa Steele.
Elisa Steele
Baldwin will oversee the company’s global brand efforts, and is responsible for developing and carrying out Yahoo’s brand marketing including brand management, corporate messaging, along with integrated marketing and advertising.
"One of Yahoo!’s greatest assets is its brand," said Steele. "Our integrated, global approach is critical to our success and we have a deep business commitment to fulfill our promise to our users, customers and partners.
"Penny is uniquely qualified to lead the effort and her leadership, experiences, knowledge and skills are excellent additions to the Yahoo! marketing team."
She brings with her 20 years of global brand strategy development and most recently was a managing partner of Young & Rubicam, where she was responsible for leading the efforts of large global teams across industries.
Her experiences span technology, retail, packaged goods, finance, travel, gaming, wireless communications, entertainment and sports marketing.
"This is a seminal moment for the Yahoo! brand and for the business overall," said Baldwin.
 
Online Publishers On Board For Bigger Ads
- Posted by Mike Sachoff in MAKE MONEY ONLINE, WEBSITE SEO |
- 0 Comments
The Online Publishers Association (OPA) announced today a group of brands that have started using its new larger ad units across OPA member sites.
The new ad units were originally announced in March with the goal of boosting creative advertising online that meets the needs of marketers by better integrating their messages.
A total of 37 OPA member companies are making the units available, up from the 24 originally announced.
Pam Horan
The OPA ad units include:
The Fixed Panel: 336 wide x 700 tall, remains constant as the user scrolls to the top and bottom of the page
The XXL Box: 468 wide x 648 tall, opens for seven seconds to 936 wide x 648 tall with 1/24x frequency
The Pushdown: 970 wide x 418 tall, opens to display the advertisement and then after seven seconds rolls up to 970 wide x 66 tall, with 1/24x frequency.
Some of the brands implementing the new OPA ad units include Bank of America, which will run the Pushdown ad on CNN.com and Time.com. The Cleveland Clinic is running the Fixed Panel ad on NYTimes.com and Mercedes-Benz will run various OPA units on FOXSports.com, Retuers.com, and The Wall Street Journal website.
"The new ad formats really struck a chord with the industry because they represented a change in the way marketers and agencies think about digital ads and new ways of delivering engaging brand campaigns," said Pam Horan, president of the Online Publishers Association.
"The caliber of the brands actively leveraging the new formats is impressive and our members are working hand-in-hand with agencies and marketers to provide the right tools for them to connect effectively with their readers."
In May 2009, the 37 publishers had a combined reach of 132.1 million visitors, or 68 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience.
 
Amazon Kills Affiliate Program In Rhode Island
- Posted by Mike Sachoff in MAKE MONEY ONLINE, WEBSITE SEO |
- 0 Comments
Amazon.com has killed another affiliates program due to proposed legislation that would force the company to collect and pay sales tax in Rhode Island.
The move comes less than a week after Amazon notified its affiliates in North Carolina it would be ending its program there due to similar proposed legislation.
The affiliates are members of a program called Amazon Associates, which allows them to place ads for Amazon items on their websites. Users can click through to Amazon’s site, and each affiliate receives money if a purchase is made.
Sucharita Mulpuru
Rhode Island affiliate Rick Wilson posted Amazon’s termination email on his blog.
"We are writing from the Amazon Associates Program to notify you that your Associates account has been closed as of June 29, 2009. This is a direct result of the unconstitutional tax collection scheme passed by the Rhode Island General Assembly with a veto-proof majority."
"As a result, we will no longer pay any referral fees for customers referred to Amazon.com or Endless.com after June 29. We were forced to take this unfortunate action in anticipation of actual enactment because of uncertainties surrounding the legislation’s effective date. The governor could sign the bill - or have his veto overridden - any day now."
The email goes on to say, "In the even that Rhode Island repeals this tax collection scheme, we would certainly be happy to re-open our Associates program to Rhode Island residents."
Forrester Research analyst Sucharita Mulpuru estimated that 10 percent of Amazon’s sales could come from its associates, but the move to pull out of Rhode Island was unlikely to significantly impact the company’s bottom line.
"It couldn’t have been such a materially significant part of their revenue in the first place, that’s what it comes down to," she told Reuters. "Affiliates are nice to have but by no stretch of the imagination are they going to make or break Amazon’s Web site."
Other states considering similar tax laws include California, Connecticut and Hawaii.
 
U.S. IT Spending Set For Rebound
- Posted by Mike Sachoff in MAKE MONEY ONLINE, WEBSITE SEO |
- 0 Comments
Growth in U.S. IT spending is expected to rebound in the fourth quarter of 2009, and 2010 is on track to bring a revival of IT buying in other markets as well, according to an updated forecast by Forrester Research.
Global spending on IT services by businesses and governments in 2009 are projected to decline by 10.6 percent, compared with a 3 percent decrease previously projected at the beginning of the year by Forrester.
Andrew Bartels
IT spending in the U.S. is projected to decline 5.1 percent this year, compared with a 3.1 percent decrease previously forecast. Forrester says new data about large declines in business technology investment during the first quarter prompted it to update its outlook on technology spending.
"While Q1 2009 saw a scary drop in purchases in the US tech market, ironically that is good news for the long run and we expect to see a stronger rebound sooner," said Andrew Bartels, Forrester Research vice president and principal analyst.
"The big drops are not precursors to further declines; rather, we think they are evidence of a temporary pause in US tech purchases, which we expect to start recovering in Q4 as businesses realize that they overreacted in the first quarter." He added, "We also expect that tech markets in Europe and Asia will start to recover in the first half of 2010."
Looking at the 2009 global IT spending outlook by sector, Forrester anticipates lower investment than previously expected across all categories. Purchases of computer equipment is projected to be down 13.4 percent, communications equipment buying will drop 12.4 percent, software spending will dip 8.2 percent, and purchases of IT services will be 8.6 percent lower.
 
