Marketing Experiments (ME) - who recently acquired Marketing Shrepa - released a study that claimed that viral marketing via videos proved an incredibly cost-effective way to get conversions.

However, the study has proved to be controversially flawed.

In the study, the researchers spent $9600 creating 28 videos, which were then syndicated on YouTube, Google Video, and others.

Each video was simply a non-promotional video, with a link to a website at the end.

According to ME, over a 60 days period they videos were viewed over 300,000 times, and generated over 4,000 visitors to the targetd website, by clicking the link at the end of the videos.

1.49% of this traffic was then converted into newsletter subscribers.

ME then claim this as far more effective than PPC, citing PPC as requiring around $20 spend per subscriber.

The problem is, ME claim that the advertising and cost per acquisition (CPA) cost of the video marketing experiment was zero.

However, then failed to factor in their initial $10,000 spend on producing the videos.

Additionally, converting 1.49% of 4,162 visitors means they only got 62 newsletter subscribers. For a cost of almost $10,000.

Which leaves a CPA of $161.29 per newsletter subscriber. Far more than the estimated $20 CPA through PPC.

Overall, the point is that syndication of content - whether via YouTube, Google Search, or news services, can provide a free source of traffic.

However, the cost of the development of that content still needs to be factored into acquisition costs - something Marketing Experiments obviously failed to do.

Apple has appointed a new senior vice president and general counsel for the company.

Donald J. Rosenberg moves in from IBM to replace Nancy Heinen, who left mysteriously in May earlier this year.

The event of change of senior VP is seen by many as widely linked to the share options scandal that has rocked most of the tech companies in America, including Apple.

The share options scandal involves the backdating of shares within a company when allocated, in order to retain key workers.

Technology companies have been specifically keen to hold onto their most valuable employees, and many may have fallen foul of US Securities and Exchange Commission investigations because of this.

More than 120 companies have been, or are currently being, investigated by the SEC, most of which are focused in America’s Silicon Valley.

Last month Apple’s Chief Financial Officer, Fred Anderson, resigned over the issue, while Steve Jobs, though cleared of wrongdoing, has already been forced to personally apologise.

However, while Apple has to ride out the scandal along with the rest of corporate America, business is still looking strong for the company.

Over the past year they sold an average of 106,000 iPods every day - with an additional 20 million expected to be sold over the coming Christmas shopping season.

The European Union is investigating the credit card industry, to determine whether fair practices are being applied in Europe.

Currently US firms Mastercard and Visa dominate the industry, and the EU is trying to determine if these are undermining potential rival companies with their fee structures.

While any potential action from an investigation are a long way off, this could be a significant first step to a sea change in credit card processing in Europe.

At present most ecommerce sites try to ensure they can transact payments by the big card companies - so if the EU determines that other card companies require due leverage then this could cause confusion.

Additionally, in the event that there are significant new players in the credit card industry, merchants will need to ensure that third-party payment processors are able to handle them.

We await the results of this investigation with interest.

According to a uSwitch customer survey, broadband customers are increasingly unhappy with their service.

While uSwitch highlights that “most providers fail to match rising customer numbers with improved services and technology”, the truth is probably more unsettling.

Simply put, too often providers invest very little in customer and technical support departments - leaving customers unable to quickly resolve issues affecting their service.

For example, from our own experience, even business broadband customers using Pipex are commonly left holding the phone for 20 minutes before being answered.

Additionally, companies such as BT are so departmentalised that often customers can end up being pushed around in circles, unable to get issues resolved.

Overall, it seems that many companies have seen broadband subscriptions as easy money to tap into, but fail to appreciate - or properly invest in - customer and technical support.

Populer merchant payment processing gateway, Protx, has been acquired by Sage.

It appears the giant of accountancy and money management is looking to integrate its software direct with online processing:

The sale will give Sage the capability to integrate the Protx secure payment systems with their business management software, opening up new possibilities for potential and existing merchants. In time, merchants will be able to link and integrate their payment processing with back-office accounting, stock control and CRM applications in one business solution.

Overall, it’s an interesting move, especially in light of how other companies are trying to integrate various online and offline activities - not least Google and Microsoft.

However, this could very much provide a taster of what Google and Microsoft may both be trying to achieve in the longterm.

After all, Google already has it’s own online office management software, but has yet to integrate it with with PPC marketing.

A glimpse of the future of online processing, perhaps?

Correction: It appears that PDS has already been closed down, but stories about it’s existence continue to circulate on the internet as a new development (see comments below).

Businesses across the UK are being warned to be careful of a scam by a company by the name of Parcel Delivery Service.

The scam involves the random posting of cards claiming to be from PDS (Parcel Delivery Service), suggesting that they were unable to deliver a parcel.

The card then prompts victims to call a premium rate number - 0306 6611911 - in order to arrange collection of the parcel.

However, there is no parcel, and anyone who calls the number and hears a recorded message will already have been billed £15 for the phone call.

Trading Standards officers and the Royal Mail are already aware of the scam, and recommend anyone who receives a card from PDS (Parcel Delivery Service) to call the Royal Mail Fraud helpline at: 02072396655.

Alternatively contact the premium rate service regulator ICSTIS.

Even before final release to beta testers, cracked versions of Microsoft’s completed Office 2007 have already been posted online.

“Cracked software” means that the digital protections have been by-passed, often by usually a single registration key to activate a version for distribution.

Although Microsoft is likely to patch the crack and make the downloads less then useful, it remains surprising at the speed at which cracked versions of Microsoft Office 2007 have already been released.

However, Microsoft have been increasingly tying it’s product piracy protection together - so by the time it’s released, Office 2007 will likely only be able to be activateed if running on a verified copy of Windows.

A legal battle in the US has concluded that Open Source software does not violate anti-trust laws.

It centers on a case brought by a Daniel Wallace against IBM, and Linux developers Novell, and Red Hat.

He claimed that the provision of free open source software by these companies undermined the ability for proprietary software developers to enter niche markets.

The claim had already been rejected by a lower court, and upon appeal was quickly rejected.

The court papers of the judgement point out that even where there are direct challenges to proprietary software by open source releases, proprietary software is often able to claim major market share.

A study by Akamia and Jupiter Research found that slow loading websites were a major reason for shoppers to abandon them.

Although product and shipping prices were a key reason to shop - or not - at an ecommerce store, page loading speed was the second biggest factor.

The study interviewed 1056 internet shoppers over 2006.

They found that four seconds is the maximum length of time an average online shopper will wait for a web page to load, before abandoning an ecommerce store.

They also found that those who spent the most money online were the least patient, and more likely to abandon a website faster.

Other key factors influencing shopper decisions where:

- rapid checkout process
- simple navigation

Websites that performed well were most likely to be revisited.

Overall, page loading speed has always been highlighted as an important factor for online sales.

However, what this study additionally illustrated were the consequences to branding by poor loading, with poorly performing websites likely never to be revisited.

Serious flaws in the new MSN Live.com search engine have been revealed, which could adversely affect websites.

The first is that MSN search is reportedly unable to handle 301 redirects, a common internet protocol used online to indicate that a webpage - or even a website - has moved to another domain.

This means that Live.com is likely to provide only information on older locations, including webpages and sites that no longer exist.

Perhaps most seriously, though, is the report that entire websites can be maliciously removed from the Live.com search index.

This involves Microsoft’s “anti-spam” filters, which are primed to remove websites where a large number of pages are copies of one another.

Rival businesses can reportedly have their competitors completely removed from Live.com, simply by creating a string of URLs for non-existent pages, and then forward the list to Microsoft.

The anti-spam filters will reportedly then simply perceive the website as spam, and automatically remove it.

While it remains clear that Microsoft’s presence in the search market is still relatively young, it can only be disappointing that their search engine currently suffers such basic technical issues.

The fact that it cannot apparently process basic internet protocols would be concern enough, but the fact that webmasters can reportedly remove other websites though malicious actions can only be especially serious.

In the meantime, online users have posted code online which should help protect websites from falling foul of the reported malicious practice until Microsoft fixes the issue:

PHP:

if($_GET) {
ignore_user_abort(true);
header (”Pragma: no-cache”);
header(”Cache-Control: no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate”);
header(”HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently”);
header(”Location: http://www.yourdomain.com/ “);
header(”Connection: close”);
exit;
}
?>

ASP:

if request.QueryString <> “” then
response.status=”301 Moved Permanently”
response.addHeader “Location”, “http://www.YourSite.com”
end if

Google Adwords have introduced a new system of “quality scoring” which has resulted in complaints from advertisers.

As marketing manager Micheal Gray illustrated, costs for successful keywords have been seen to rise without apparent justification.

Other PPC managers have complained that the complete lack of transparency on so-called “quality controls” means it’s hard for some to perceive this as little more than milking the advertisers.

Some are concerned that the provision of data to Google via free tools such as Google Analytics are being used to increase pricing where possible.

However, it could also be possible that because the system is completely automated, that advertisers are simply seeing bugs in the system.

Overall, at a time when headlines about clickfraud are common, and PPC advertisers are concerned about getting real value, the continued lack of transparency in the quality scoring critieria can only serve to aggravate PPC advertisers.

ADDED: Jeremy Shoemaker posts that Google’s quality changes are especially intended to hit arbitrage users - ie, a business model that relies on paying for low-cost PPC keywords, to direct traffic to sites displaying high-paying PPC ads.

Technorati has released it’s State of the Blogosphere report for the year, providing valuable statistics on blogs and bloggers.

The study also shows that the most influential bloggers online post much less frequently that less known bloggers - but that they have done so more regularly for a longer period of time.

Key statistics include:

• 100,000 blogs are now created each day
• 1.3 million blog posts on average each day
• Technorati now tracks 57 million blogs
• Mainstream media is the first call for news, but blogs make up the Longtail

Most popular blogging languages:

• English - 39%
• Japanese - 33%
• Chinese - 10%
• Spanish - 3%
• Italian - 2%
• Russian - 2%
• Portuguese - 2%
• French - 2%
• German - 1%
• Farsi - 1%
• Others - 5%

Overall, it shows that blogging as a phenomenon is here to stay - and that while mainstream media still captures user attention most, blogs remain a significant influence online.

Google have launched a new application for mobile Gmail users.

Gmail for Mobile Devices is a java application that helps streamline Gmail operations on mobile devices.

Previously, it could take up to 10 clicks just to action a GMail account, but now the service reportedly allows simply email access in just 2.

The application is free to download, and should work on the 300 and more different java enabled mobile device types in the US at least.

However, ordinary network charges apply for accessing Gmail from mobile devices.

Microsoft and Novell have joined together in a strategic alliance.

Both companies aim to promote interoperability between Microsoft’s Windows applications and Novell’s Suse Linux.

Novell is currently developing Xen as a method of running multiple operating systems on the same machine, whereas Microsoft were previously working on their own project, named Veridian.

The move will see both companies and projects coming together.

Microsoft will also protect Novell against potential patent infringements previously claimed by Microsoft.

While the move by both companies to see a working partnership between proprietary and open source development between Microsoft and Novell can only be good for users, there remains a possible ulterior motive in the partnership.

By working with Novell, Microsoft almost certainly undermines Red Hat - currently the dominant linux distro, especially in the server market.

However, it remains to be seen what actual results come from this partnership in the long-term.

Channel 4’s Chief Executive, Andy Duncan, has said that online advertising is a threat to TV revenues.

He highlighted this by pointing out that at the current rate, Google’s revenues will outstrip Channel 4’s revenues by the end of the year.

Andy Duncan has already approached Google to discuss syndication of Channel 4 programming online, as well as lobbying Parliament to allow Channel 4 access to digital distribution.

According to Brand Republic, online ad growth has risen by more than 40% in the UK in the first half of the year to £917.2m, and is now just a percentage point behind national newspapers in terms of market share.

Google is a major power behind online advertising spend in the UK, and the recent comments and statistics help enforce that.

However, while Google’s position in online advertising is without contention, the fact that Google is currently valued on the stock markets at over $140 billion suggests that investors are vastly over-estimating its potential.

I mean, seriously - if Google’s revenues are equivalent to Channel 4’s, then would Channel 4 be valued at $140 billion?

While online advertising still has growth left in it, it remains to be seen whether Google’s presence in the increasing online advertising market will actually justify such a market cap.

Earlier this week Platinax News reported that Ubuntu, Trustix, and Suse made it difficult for subscribers to their email lists to opt out.

Key issues raised were that there was no clear unsubscribe option, and the unsubscription process was user-unfriendly. This could lead to disgruntled subscribers perceiving themselves to be be subject to unwanted emails.

However, it’s fair to say the item was clumsy in its language, and might have created the perception that it was reporting Ubuntu, Trustix, and Suse as responsible for spam.

For this reason, the item has now been retracted.

Platinax would like to apologise to those involved in the projects at Ubuntu and Trustix for any discomfort caused by the item.

Platinax would especially like to apologise to Novell and users of Suse, for incorrectly reporting that there was no obvious email opt out, when this was plainly incorrect.

Platinax News is intended to cover issues that may be of interest to small businesses in the UK, and the issue of usability to be covered in the original item was believed to be a newsworthy item.

However, Platinax wholly accepts that the manner in which this item was originally covered was not acceptable, and failed to cover the story in the best manner.

While Platinax does strive to reasonable standards in its reporting, and has done so for over two years, it’s fair to say the original item was something of a cock-up.

I hope readers continue to enjoy the site, and that Platinax can continue to bring an “open source” mentality to helping UK business online.

In the meantime, a more considered approach will be taken on how items are reported in future.

- Brian Turner, site admin & director of Platinax Internet Ltd.

Ask and Lycos have signed a distribution deal to provide a new tier of content for PPC advertisers.

However, Ask has recently come under fire for providing PPC traffic of little value to advertisers.

It comes at a time when advertisers are increasingly concerned about the quality of sites and traffic they gain through PPC advertising.

Most seriously, the issue of Clickfraud remains a spectre many PPC advertisers dread - and recently Business Week highlighted some of the ways in which clickfraud operates.

Overall, it remains to be seen whether the Ask/Lycos partnership can deliver value traffic for PPC advertisers.

In the meantime, though, it remains a point of contention that PPC providers ensure that they provide quality traffic on quality sites, in order for advertisers to feel they’re getting a real deal.

Security firms are warning that an increasing number of online videos are being packed with malware - adware, spyware, and computer viruses - to catch out the unwary.

The warning specifically applies to video files that require a Codec to be downloaded to allow the video to play properly.

Although many Codecs are perfectly legitimate, some work as a doorway to download adware, spyware, or viruses/trojans/worms to infect a user’s PC.

The big danger at present is that popular video sites - such as YouTube - could especially become targeted by malware, not least because of the currently unregulated nature of uploading clips to the site.

Overall, it should come as no surprise to many that virus writers are trying to exploit video - lessons that file-sharing software such as Kazaa underlined the fact that file sharing brings significant security risks.

The danger now is that those risks could go mainstream - and find a way to infect the largest number of users with least effort.

It also raises an important issue for IPTV distirbutors to bare in mind, not least proper security screening of uploaded content.

A number of the world’s largest anti-spam organisations have come together to form an alliance to help fight spam across the world.

Set up by the OECD, the Stop Spam Alliance (SSA) is a coming together of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC), the EU Contact Network for Spam enforcement Authorities (CNSA), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the London Action Plan for Spam Enforcement (LAP), and the Seoul-Melbourne MoU.

A key aim of the SSA is to gather information and resources on combating spam. It also aims to simplify communications and standards for stopping spam across continents.

Additionally, the organisation intends to provide help and advice for businesses seeking help on spam issues.

While it’s not going to stop spam overnight - if at all - the SSA can at least share intelligence with ISP’s to help filter spam from their networks.

Overall, the email spam problem is getting worse, and existing legislation in the UK and USA at least are at best, ineffective, at dealing with the spam issue.

Additionally, countries such as Russia and Eastern European countries have been havens for illegal internet activity, with huge botnetworks especially driven from them.

In the meantime, there’s little else ordinarily internet users can do, other than take reasonable precautions with the provision of their email address online, and keep those filters/anti-spam programs running.

A judge has ruled that a case involving a UK company’s servers being hacked from Russia can be tried in the UK.

The ruling comes over a bitter dispute after UK company Ashton claims its server in London were hacked in order to retreive sensitive commercial data on one of its client companies, Ansol.

Ashton claims Russian aluminiun company Ruscal and Tajikstan company, TadAZ, were behind the repeated server hackings.

Hack attempts were traced to a number of IP across Russia, including Ruscal’s own IP’s.

Ruscal claims a Wi-Fi system it operated at the time was insecure, and was therefore used by third-parties, rather than Ruscal employees.

While the case had yet to be brought to court, there has been a bitter dispute over legal jurisdiction.

However, Jonathan Hirst QC, sitting as a deputy judge of the High Court, ruled that as the servers were based in London, the legal jurisdiction was London, regardless as to where the data was sent to after.

This could be a very important case, because hacking and other illegal internet activity is flourishing in Eastern Europe and Russia.

While normally these illegal activities may not be seen as actionable, the ruling today means that if a UK company suffers hacking or other illegal damage to its IT infrastructure, there remains the possibility of bringing legal action in the UK.