Western companies hope China's domestic disputes will help Beijing get serious about intellectual property theft ---------------------------  Victor Koo was looking for a way to make his video-sharing Web site stand out from China's legions of similar outfits. So the founder of Beijing's Youku.com arranged a pay-per-view special with Guo Degang, a comedian known for dialogues vaguely akin to the "Who's on First" routine by Abbott & Costello. For $7.30, subscribers could watch eight nights of Guo's fast-paced schtick, only on Youku. Or at least that's what Koo thought. Soon after the Guo shows aired in August, Koo says, unauthorized copies started appearing on rival Sohu.com. That touched off a running battle among the kingpins of China's Internet. In September, Sohu and several other Net companies sued Youku and a handful of similar sites for airing videos without permission. Youku responded with lawsuits of its own, alleging defamation as well as illegal use of the Guo videos. "They make these announcements about us infringing their content, and the next day we still find evidence they violated our copyrights," fumes Koo, who once served as president of Sohu. Koo's lawsuit, counters Sohu chief Charles Zhang, is "pathetic." Angry words aside, it seems the Chinese are beginning to get serious about piracy. While multinationals have battled intellectual property theft in China for years, Chinese companies have largely stayed on the sidelines. But as domestic players start to take umbrage at rivals stealing their wares, they're jumping into the fray — which may soon lead to better protection. If only foreigners complain, "it's an uphill struggle," says Michael C. Ellis, president of Asia-Pacific for the Motion Picture Assn., a trade group. But now "local industry is starting to realize the losses they are suffering." China's video sites say they're doing their best to battle pirated content. They have introduced new technology to keep unauthorized videos offline and are quicker to take down those that make it through. "We always remove links" to pirated clips, says Gary Wang, chief executive of Tudou.com, another video - sharing site targeted by Sohu and its allies. For his part, Sohu boss Zhang argues that his company and its allies have spurred more Chinese sites to follow the rules. "Last year you could steal things in broad daylight," Zhang says. "Now, because of our efforts, you do it very discreetly." Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code, has already gained from the changing attitude. A Web site that had recruited more than 1,000 volunteers to collaborate on an unauthorized translation of Brown's latest novel, The Lost Symbol, pulled the plug on the initiative in September after a warning from the publisher that held the local rights to the book. To avoid "serious copyright consequences," the moderator wrote on the site, "I suggest that everyone suspend translating." But plenty of demand remains. Prices for legitimate content have skyrocketed; site operators now pay $5,000 per episode, vs. $500 a year ago. And Beijing permits just a few dozen foreign films annually in Chinese cinemas — an invitation to piracy. "Unless you open the door to [foreign content], people will always find illegal ways to get it here," says Thierry Raymaekers, business development chief at Irdeto, a company that sells anti-piracy technology to cable TV operators. That means copyright holders have a long road ahead. Lawsuits by foreign record companies against Chinese search engines for allegedly providing easy access to pirated songs have languished for more than a year, says Leong May-Seey, regional director for the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. "It's just taking forever." Source: Businessweek
Just recently, Clicksia encountered some database errors that prevented signing up, logging in, or clicking ads on the site. Clicksia's admin NorthOwl informed us via email that this is nothing more than just some database issues, which has been resolved now. Here is the content of the email: Hello Dear Members,
It seems we had some database issues on Clicksia.com today which caused errors when members tried to sign up, log in, or click ads. We have fixed these issues and taken measures to assure that this does not happen again in the future. We are very sorry for the inconvenience this caused today.
On a side note, Clicksia.com is over 2 years old now and still paying! We are very proud to be one of the longest running honest sites. Many members submit support tickets asking about payment times. Please note that as per our Terms Of Service, Payments are done within 7 business day(s) but we usually try and pay all payment requests within a few days.
If you ever have any questions or concerns please contact us using the contact form on Clicksia.com or visit our forum at EarnMoneySpace.com
Thank you for being a member of Clicksia.com and Happy Earnings! Clicksia is actually working properly now like what the admin had said.
Today, blogs tracker Technorati released a new report on the state of blogging, and it appears that a respectable number of bloggers out there manage to eek out a living. According to a survey of 2,828 bloggers nationwide, 13% of the respondents do blogging full time. Another 15% blog to supplement their income. Basically, 28% of the people who blog get paid for it — which is a staggering number, if you think about it. Every fourth blogger out there is getting paid for promoting brands or driving new leads to their businesses. That — at a time when most advertising- and marketing-dependent businesses, such as traditional media, suffer. Clearly, bloggers are doing something right.
Within months, the Google unit will start offering full-length, time-delayed TV shows and archived hits from the British broadcaster --------------------------------  Channel Four Television has signed a deal with YouTube to bring its flagship shows to the video-sharing site. The agreement will see programming from Channel 4's catch up service, 4oD, made available for free through YouTube, a unit of Google (GOOG). The broadcaster's best-known shows such as Skins, Hollyoaks, The Inbetweeners and Peep Show will all feature on YouTube, along with around 3,000 hours of full-length programming such as Teachers and Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares from the Channel 4 archive. The first Channel 4 content will begin appearing on YouTube in the coming months—shortly after the programs appear on TV — with a full service available by early 2010. The partnership will initially run for three years and the two parties will share advertising revenues. Under the terms of the deal, Channel 4 will have a branded presence on YouTube and will be able to sell advertising around its own content, as well as around some non-Channel 4 content on the site. The broadcaster hopes that syndicating its programs on a non-exclusive basis will help 4oD to expand its market share. "Syndication deals are key to Channel 4's strategy for monetizing on-demand audiences," said a spokeswoman for Channel 4. "YouTube already has 20 million users in the UK and we believe it is certain to be a major player in the UK [video on demand] market." While the Channel 4 deal may be the first time a broadcaster has put its catch-up service on YouTube, it seems unlikely to be the last. "We look forward to other similar agreements to come," YouTube's director of partnerships Patrick Walker said in a statement. Channel 4's original programs are already available over the internet via its own on-demand 4oD platform, which it launched at the end of 2006. According to the broadcaster, the 4oD platform had more than 10 million views of long form content in September — a year-on-year increase of 204 per cent. Source: http://www.businessweek.com and silicon.com
Url: www.fastmoney24.com There is no such thing as fast money or a fast way to make money on the Internet! Some people, including some online business gurus agree to this statement. Any site that offers fast and easy money or get rich quickly schemes are more likely scams. There is one site that makes this statement true - and this site is fastmoney24.com. FastMoney24 is a site that offers huge returns on your investment in Forex and Gold or so they claimed. FastMoney24 is just an example of a ponzi scheme or an illegal HYIP business. When you take a look at this site, and read its statements, you'll definitely find a lot of conflicting arguments. Here is an example of their statement: fastmoney24 does not claim the highest interest rates available online and this has never been our primary aim. What we consider most important is stability, timely payments and flawless service. fastmoney24 stands out from most online investment opportunities. Our professional expertise allows us to offer you secure returns on investments. We plan our investment portfolio in order to mitigate the risks inherent in trading. We use various investment strategies and always diversify our investments. They say that they do not claim the highest interest rates available online, and yet, they are offering these plans.. Plan Investment A Min Invest: US$ 149 Maximum Invest: US$ 299 Period: After 6 Days Total Profit: 250%Plan Investment B Min Invest: US$ 300 Maximum Invest: US$ 600 Period: After 3 Days Total Profit: 500%Plan Investment C Min Invest: US$ 700 Maximum Invest: US$ 1500 Period: After 12 Hours Total Profit: 800%The promise of an outrageous return in investment is proof of scam already, but for those too greedy to listen, we think it would be wise to add more proofs. For why this site is on the scam list is obvious, but not only that, this site has a bad reputation of scamming numerous people. Our partner site PTC-Investgations has all the links to forums that store complaints against the site. See it here. This site also claims to have paid in Paypal. This is not true, and we can automatically mark fastmoney24's payment proofs as fake. Note that Paypal do not accept HYIPs, and for them to have paid in Paypal is ridiculous. Other reasons that can only be considered minuscule, yet helps add weight to the evidence are "no forum", and a hidden "WhoIs Info". Sites that have no forum, or with owners that are hiding their information are likely scams.
Hit by the economy early this year, search advertising looks to be on the mend. For the second quarter in a row, two search marketing firms say U.S. spending on text ads on Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft’s Bing improved—or at least got less bad. The results bode well in particular for runaway search ad leader Google, which reports its third-quarter earnings on Thursday.  Analysts have been saying for months that as the economy improves, search advertising is likely to return most quickly among all other forms of advertising. It’s seen as the most measurable, and it’s also easy for marketers to increase spending literally overnight because it’s largely self-service, requiring no advance commitment. But Web companies from Yahoo to countless startups also hope that an uptick in search ads eventually will open up wallets for display, video, and other online ads. SearchIgnite today said U.S. paid-search spending was down about 1%, or flat for all intents and purposes, from a year ago across all the search engines. But more encouraging, search ad spend rose 10% from the second quarter--much more than the usual 2% gain in the same periods in 2007 and 2008. Another search marketing firm, Efficient Frontier, saw a similar pattern, though with different numbers, since it's measuring results for its own unique clientele. The company, whose report is out tonight, said U.S. search ad spending was up 5% from the second quarter, though it was down 5% from a year ago. "Search marketers are starting to get back in," Efficient Frontier CEO David Karnstedt said in an interview. "Traditionally, search has been a leading indicator" of a recovery in ad spending. For SearchIgnite's customers, retailers led the way. In fact, they accounted for virtually all the improvement, with a 40% jump in search spend from a year ago, SearchIgnite President Roger Barnette told me. "Retail is a bellwether because people spend there before they resume spending on travel, for example," he says. "I would hope that the other markets would follow." So far, they haven't. All other categories, including travel, finance, and autos, showed little growth or were down. Specifically, Efficient Frontier says travel ad spending plummeted 39% from a year ago. Even automobile-related ad spending was up only 6% thanks entirely to the Cash for Clunkers programs. However, among Efficient Frontier's retail clientele, the uptick in spending was much less pronounced, up only 2%. "As we move into the shopping season, we could see growth increase," Karnstedt says, potentially moving search ad spending overall back into double-digit territory. Google remained dominant in the quarter. Efficient Frontier said Google lost a bit of ground, as its share of search spending fell to 73.7%, from 75.5% in the second quarter. Meantime, Bing's share rose to 5.3% from 4.3% in the second quarter. However, Google's return on investment, or how much marketers got in new business in return for their ad spend, shot up 47%, way more than its rivals, which may help it recapture any lost business in coming quarters. For its part, SearchIgnite saw little change in market share, with Google continuing to lead with 77% of search marketer spending, up from 72% a year ago. Although Bing was up the most, with a 15% increase in spending, that didn't help lift its overall share. It remained at 6%, unchanged for the last several years, when it was known as Live Search. Yahoo's share fell sharply, from 22% a year ago to 17% today. Despite the mixed picture for Google's market share, any improvement in search ads is likely to benefit the company more than its rivals. That's not only because it so dominates search ads, but also because it's disproportionately strong in retail, which is likely to see even more search spending in the fourth quarter. In anticipation of that improvement--as well as a spate of new, higher target prices by analysts--Google's stock has risen sharply this year, up 63% from the start of the year to $524 today. Two weeks into the fourth quarter, it's too early to say how things are going, but Karnstedt and Barnette are cautiously optimistic. "So far, so good," says Barnette.
Wall Street analysts give their buy, sell, or hold views on 10 stocks in the news this week..
Highlights of analyst stock opinions issued the week of Oct. 5-9:
Oct. 9
Google (GOOG)
Credit Suisse keeps outperform; raises price target
Credit Suisse analyst Spencer Wang sharply raised his share price target on Google on Oct. 9, just two days after the online search leader's CEO Eric Schmidt said an economic recovery is under way in the U.S. and Europe.
Wang boosted his price target to $600 from $475. The new target implies the stock has room to rise 17% over the next year. Google's shares last crossed $600 in May 2008. Wang said online search will be "one of the first advertising mediums to benefit from an advertising recovery."
AT&T (T)
S&P Equity Research reiterates strong buy; lowers estimates
S&P equity analyst Todd Rosenbluth said on Oct. 9 that ahead of the expected release of AT&T's third-quarter results on Oct. 22, he was modestly lowering his 2009 and 2010 earnings per share (EPS) estimates. Rosenbluth cut his 2009 EPS forecast by 6 cents to $2.12 and his 2010 estimate by 7 cents to $2.28.
However, he still sees AT&T's earnings prospects and balance sheet as relatively strong and views its dividend, yielding an above-average 6%, as stable. He maintained his 12-month price target of $31.
Oct. 8
Alcoa (AA)
Citigroup maintains buy; raises estimates, price target
Citigroup analyst Brian Yu said on Oct. 8 that Alcoa's third-quarter operating earnings of 4 cents per share, reported after the close of trading Oct. 7, topped both his 10 cents loss per share estimate and the 9 cents loss per share consensus forecast of Wall Street analysts.
Yu continues to anticipate a profit in the fourth quarter as better third-quarter aluminum pricing flows to the company's Alumina business, and cost-cut initiatives advance. He raised his 2010 earnings estimate from 24 cents per share to 48 cents, and his 2011 earnings view from 60 cents to 80 cents. He boosted his $14 price target to $17.
Adobe Systems (ADBE)
Robert W. Baird upgrades to outperform from neutral; raises price target
Predicting an earnings recovery in the second half of next year and following an upbeat analyst meeting, Robert W. Baird analyst Steven M. Ashley upgraded Adobe Systems on Oct. 8 and boosted his target price on Adobe's shares to $40 from $35. He expects the software maker's earnings to recover thanks to the release of Creative Suite 5 next year.
Ashley also expects Adobe's acquisition of Omniture Inc. to close as expected and provide a longtime benefit to the San Jose, Calif.-based company.
Oct. 7
Cisco Systems (CSCO)
William Blair upgrades to outperform from market perform
Cisco Systems is winning new deals and benefiting from a broad economic recovery, William Blair analyst Jason Ader said Oct. 7 as he upgraded the company's stock.
"Our analysis suggests that there has been significant pent-up demand building over the last year for Cisco's products ... which has started to loosen up over the past few months," Ader told investors in a note. He also praised Cisco's recently announced plan to acquire Norway's Tandberg ASA for $3 billion, a move he said will help the company make video communication "ubiquitous" in the business market.
Goodrich Corp. (GR)
FBR Capital Markets upgrades to outperform from market perform; raises price target
Analyst Patrick J. McCarthy of FBR Capital Markets upgraded airplane parts manufacturer Goodrich Corp. on Oct. 7, saying he expects airline travel to improve next year. McCarthy also raised his price target to $65 from $46.
"Last quarter, the company noted that commercial passenger, regional/business travel and cargo markets were still challenging but that its aftermarket business appeared to be stabilizing and incremental end-market data appears to be supporting this as well," he wrote in a client note. "Also, while we are not free and clear from the economic recession's impact on commercial aerospace, signs of a modest recovery in 2010 travel seem to be improving."
Oct. 6
Family Dollar Stores (FDO)
BMO Capital Markets upgrades to outperform from market perform
BMO Capital Markets analyst Wayne Hood lifted his rating on Family Dollar Stores Inc. on Oct. 6, noting the stock had lost 14% of its value since early July. Hood said the stock now represents a good buying opportunity. "The stock is as cheap as it's been in years," he wrote in a client note.
"We believe investors are presently struggling to find new ideas with reasonable (stock prices), above average returns on capital, strong free cash flow yield and good long-term growth prospects. We see all of these in Family Dollar," he wrote.
Cirrus Logic (CRUS)
Needham & Co. rates buy; raises estimates, price target
Needham analyst Vernon Essi, Jr., said on Oct. 6 that Cirrus preannounced second-quarter revenues of about $55.7 million, 11% above the midpoint of its prior guidance range; augmenting the upside is that gross margin will be at higher end of its prior 50%-52% guidance range, implying the company can maintain margins against a shift in its business mix toward what's being perceived as lower-margin portable audio business.
The analyst notes the company's audio business is benefiting from a revenue ramp-up in key smartphone programs, as well as continued penetration within a legacy portable audio customer. He raised his fiscal 2010 (ending March) earnings estimate from 22 cents per share to 28 cents, and his $8 price target to $9.
Oct. 5
Manitowoc Co. (MTW)
Deutsche Bank upgrades to buy from hold
Deutsche Bank analyst Nigel Coe upgraded heavy equipment maker Manitowoc Co. late Oct. 4 on the strength of its foodservice equipment business. Manitowoc's foodservice division is "likely to dominate" over the next year or two, accounting for about 45 percent of revenue and two-thirds of earnings before income taxes, depreciation and amortization in 2010, Coe said in a client note.
"While the convenience restaurant and lodging segments have not been immune through this downturn, with revenues down low single-digit and margins expanding next year ... we see Manitowoc's foodservice segment as a critical earnings anchor," Coe said.
DTS Inc. (DTSI)
Deutsche Bank upgrades to buy from hold; raises price target
DTS Inc. is set for a period of "hyper-growth," Deutsche Bank analyst Brian Thackray said Oct. 5, pointing out improving demand for Blu-ray DVD players. Thackray said his checks with more than 500 retailers show Blu-ray technology is finally catching on as prices come down, a trend likely to boost sales for DTS. The Agoura Hills, Calif., company makes equipment for audio systems used in DVD players, computers and other electronics.
In addition to upgrading the shares, Thackray raised his price target to $32 from $28.
Url: www.promoterheavenptc.com
This site had been requested for review and after reviewing the site, we found it not worthy of your time. PromoterHeavenPTC is an aurora PTC site that offers to pay $1 to $5 for every ads clicked, and $25 for a simple signup. However, when you read their terms you would find this:
The cash earned in your accounts is not actual money. Payouts are based on the income of the site. The more income the site gets, the higher the payout conversion is. The actual amount you make is figured once all income is added and the number of payout requests are counted. Every month, the amount you make per request is different. Recent conversions have been less than 50 cents per $5000 request. Payouts take up to 45 days. You can request as many times as you would like in any payout period.
This is an example of a site that hides behind their TOS. The offer shown on the front page is a deceptive practice to only lure people into joining. As stated on their TOS, it says that the cash you earned is not actual money, it is based on the income of the site. In other words, if the site don't earn, so do you.
On further research, we have found that this site is owned by Jeffrey Johnson; the very same person who runs the New Online Visions, LLC PTC Network group, and other more scam sites. He is also the person who attempted to deceive the masses by deliberately promoting his scam through Jeffrey Johnson's Top PTC Sites and PTCBoycott.
Jeffrey Johnson or JJ is known for deceptive tactics, and his PromoterHeavenPTC has his signature on it.
Move over Apple and Research In Motion. Rivalry in the smartphone market has just heated up.
For a while it seemed the bloodiest battle in smartphones would be fought between Apple (AAPL), maker of the iPhone, and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIMM). But an emerging alliance between Google (GOOG) and Verizon Wireless has the potential to create a potent alternative to the BlackBerry and iPhone in the U.S. smartphone market.
On Oct. 6, Verizon Wireless and Google said they will collaborate on mobile devices, services, and software for the Android mobile operating system that's being developed by a Google-led consortium. The pairing gives Android its largest-yet wireless industry backer and is likely to accelerate the development of Android-based devices and of applications tailored to the Android operating system.
Thirty Android-Based Devices by Yearend?
Analysts expect Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications (VZ) and Vodafone (VOD) and the largest U.S. wireless service provider, to unveil at least three Android-based phones from such makers as Motorola (MOT), Samsung, and HTC later this month.
Backing from Verizon Wireless, which boasts 87.7 million users, could encourage other handset makers to build for Android, too. All told, device manufacturers may unveil 30 Android-based devices by yearend, says Stifel Nicolaus analyst George Askew. Last summer, Google's top Android manager, Andy Rubin, said he expected up to 20 devices to debut in 2009.
Depending on how aggressively Verizon Wireless begins marketing Android handsets, BlackBerrys and other smartphones could be forced to play second fiddle in Verizon Wireless stores, says Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu.
An increasingly important selling point for smartphones is the availability of applications, such as games and productivity tools, often developed by third-party programmers. Android Market, which sells games and productivity apps for phones such as the T-Mobile G1 and myTouch 3G, currently offers about 10,000 apps. The Apple App Store has more than 85,000.
No iPhone for Verizon Wireless?
Part of the reason for the success of Apple's outlet is the marketing support from big carriers such as AT&T (T), the exclusive U.S. iPhone carrier. Once Verizon Wireless starts preloading Android Market on handsets and offering its own games and other applications through the store, the Market's content and usage should increase. "Within 12 to 18 months, we'll see a lot more interesting applications coming out of the developer community," says Scott Ellison, a vice-president at consultant IDC.
The Verizon Wireless network is reputed to be more reliable than AT&T's in key markets. Add to that the prospect of more features, and Android phones become more viable alternatives to the iPhone. Partnering with Google also gives Verizon Wireless less incentive to make the concessions it would need to offer in order to become a partner to Apple in selling the iPhone. "They are showing Apple: 'If we don't get the iPhone, we have all this other stuff; we are not desperate,'" says Tero Kuittinen, senior analyst at institutional equity trading and research firm MKM Partners.
Another smartphone maker, Microsoft (MSFT), has been losing market share to RIM and Apple, and the Verizon Wireless-Google alliance could put it further in the shadows. The Android alliance was announced on the very day Microsoft was unveiling a new version of its cell-phone software under a new name, Windows Phone. The brand, which replaces Windows Mobile, will be supported by a major marketing campaign. Still, Microsoft's announcement got far less play in the media than Google's. "I am sure Google meant to be a spoiler," says Kuittinen.
If it's any consolation, Microsoft may not be the only one to lose out.
Source: http://www.businessweek.com
 That's how big Google's vision is for its Wave social-networking/search service, which will have apps created by independent developers who sell them at a Google app store. Google has big plans for Google Wave, its new online communication service—and they won't all come from Google. The Web search giant is hoping that software developers far and wide will create tools that work in conjunction with Wave, making an already multifaceted service even more useful. Google (GOOG) is even likely to let programmers sell their applications through an online bazaar akin to Apple's App Store, the online marketplace for games and other applications designed for the iPhone. "We'll almost certainly build a store," Lars Rasmussen, the Google software engineering manager who directs the 60-person team in Sydney, Australia, that created Wave, told BusinessWeek.com. "So many developers have asked us to build a marketplace—and we might do a revenue-sharing arrangement." Combining instant messaging, e-mail, and real-time collaboration, Wave is an early form of so-called real-time communication designed to make it easier for people to work together or interact socially over the Internet. Google started letting developers tinker with Wave at midyear and then introduced the tool on a trial basis to about 100,000 invited users starting on Sept. 30. Invitations were such a hot commodity that they were being sold on eBay (EBAY). For Google the hope is that Wave, once it's more widely available, will replace competing communications services such as e-mail, instant messaging, and possibly even social networks such as Facebook. If Wave takes off, applications created by outside developers could make it more useful, and an app store would give those programmers and their financial backers a share in Wave's success. Already, independent software developers have built and tested Wave applications that handle such tasks as teleconferencing, videoconferencing, and multiplayer gaming. Wave wouldn't be Google's first stab at an app store. Google runs Android Market, which sells third-party software for phones such as the T-Mobile myTouch 3G and shares 70% of those sales with developers, keeping the rest. Android Market offers about 10,000 apps, compared with the more successful Apple (AAPL) App Store, which sells software for the iPhone and iPod touch devices and boasts more than 85,000 apps. Apps for laptops, TV, and smartphonesBut while the Apple App Store sells software only for Apple gadgets, Google's Wave store would be likely to sell apps that work on all kinds of devices, from laptops to Web-enabled TVs to smartphones. Any device with a modern browser should be able to use Google Wave and download related add-ons. The Web search giant is considering selling its own applications through the Wave app store as well, Rasmussen says. The market opportunity for such wide-ranging applications could be large if Google Wave succeeds in replacing existing modes of communication in the same way e-mail has supplanted letters. "It'll probably transform IM and e-mail systems," says Jeffrey Lindsay, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein. "Lots of imaginative developers will build a whole host of new applications. This is disruptive." Brian Pokorny, a venture capitalist at Angel, says real-time communication "is a multibillion-dollar opportunity in the next two to five years." The VC firm is considering investing in developers who are creating add-ons for Wave. Since May, when Wave was introduced, developers have created hundreds of add-ons for the service, Rasmussen says. A handful, including some from software vendors SAP (SAP) and salesforce.com (CRM), have been tested but are not yet available to customers. Automatic Voice-to-TextOnly six apps are available to customers who are testing Wave. One, from Ribbit, lets users place Web calls to other users and create multi-user Web conference calls. It can also automatically transcribe voice into text. Ultimately it could sell for $2.95 to $19.95, depending on the features, says Ribbit CEO Ted Griggs. "Our hopes are pretty high," he says. "If Google Wave becomes a tool for collaboration, then being early to the game has a lot of value." In August, Ribbit and its owner, BT Group (BT), hired Kevin Marks, who led some of Google's developer efforts, to be its vice-president of Web services. Done right, Google Wave has the potential to grab traffic and user time away from Facebook; AOL's AIM; e-mail services from Google, Microsoft (MSFT), and Yahoo! (YHOO); and even Skype and Cisco System's (CSCO) WebEx. An add-on from startup 6rounds turns Wave collaboration into a video conference, similar to Skype's. Users can communicate via Web video while editing documents or playing games on Wave. The company hopes to make money by selling virtual goods through its free app. Another developer, LabPixies, could help Wave compete with online-gaming portals. Its free sudoku puzzle game allows for real-time competitive play. The company makes money through contextual ads, into which Google could potentially share. Google could also insert its ads into other free apps. Marketing agencies, meanwhile, are already starting to look at how they could use Wave to grow their client companies' brands by sponsoring applications or allowing fans to share photos and chat. Just as brands are now paying attention to Facebook, Wave "is something everyone's got on their radar," says Dan Shust, director of emerging media at agency Resource Interactive, which works with such companies as Victoria's Secret, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), and Procter & Gamble (PG). "The same thing might come true for Google Wave." Rival services expected quicklyA chief goal for Wave and its apps is to drive use of search, which can be done directly from the Wave service, and to boost sales of Google Apps, the suite of productivity tools that competes with Microsoft Office. Search and e-mail rivals such as Microsoft and Yahoo are expected to unleash their own Wave-like products in response. "Microsoft and Yahoo will probably bring out something similar very quickly," Lindsay says. (Microsoft and Yahoo are mum on their product plans.) In a statement, Microsoft said: "While it is unclear how Google Wave will address critical needs and help consumers and businesses manage information overload, Microsoft already has solutions in place: for businesses, Office 2010 will span the PC, phone, and browser, enabling people to work when and how they want. For consumers, today over 500 million active users on Windows Live have the ability to communicate and share via popular services like Windows Live Messenger and Windows Live Hotmail." Rasmussen says his team has already been approached by several companies looking to build their own Wave-like services and connect them to Google Wave so that users of different services can communicate with one another. "We have a vision of a future where there's a Google Wave, a Yahoo Wave, a Microsoft Wave, and they all inter-operate," says Rasmussen, who wouldn't say if Google has had discussions with Yahoo or Microsoft. Early responses to Wave have been mixed, with some users questioning whether it enhances productivity and others saying it's overly complex. "The big question remains whether it enters the mainstream," says Laura Martin, an analyst at Soleil Securities Group. Source: www.businessweek.com
In our September Poll, the question that was ask was: "Do you believe that HYIP is a sustainable Program?" While not so many who visited our site knows HYIP nor tried it. We somehow managed to get a minuscule information about HYIP and how people thinks about it. Out of the 7 who participated, 1 person answered Yes (Agrees that HYIP is a sustainable program) 5 people answered No (Believes that HYIP is unsustainable) and finally 1 person voted for I don't know (Doesn't know what HYIP is.) So the majority had spoken.. most people believe that HYIP is not a sustainable program.
CEO Eric Schmidt discusses how Google is handling challenges from Microsoft and upstarts Twitter and Facebook — and why search remains its priority. For all the many projects Google (GOOG) has cooking, from the video site YouTube to a new computer operating system, Internet search remains far and away its most important product. Search advertising, along with related ads that it runs on thousands of partner Web sites, still accounted for nearly all of its $22 billion in revenues last year. That gold mine utterly depends on how well Google's search engine can maintain its lead. In a close look at the company's search quality group, BusinessWeek found that search remains Google's overriding focus. Several hundred engineers in the group continue to tweak the algorithms that instantly match queries with relevant results, making as many as 500 changes a year to these mysterious mathematical formulas. But today, Google arguably faces more potent competition than ever, from Microsoft's (MSFT) relaunched search engine, Bing, to upstarts such as Twitter and Facebook that could change the balance of power in the Internet economy. In an interview with Silicon Valley bureau chief Robert Hof, Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt explained how Google plans to stay ahead in search, and he defended Google against concerns by some investors that its many non search projects could be distracting. What is Google's biggest strength in search?Scale is the key. We just have so much scale in terms of the data we can bring to bear. Are disruptive innovations in search a thing of the past?The days when you can come in with some new idea and change everything are gone. It's a much more sophisticated set of problems than can be done with a small team coming up with a new development. There will be disruptive developments, but they will be inserted into the flow. We keep trying to come up with new ideas. One of the ways is you bring in a new viewpoint — some grad student who really has a different view — and we help them get that view implemented. Is there a danger that Google is focusing too much on sustaining innovations vs. disruptive ones because it has a commanding lead and its system works well as it does? Is it facing the Innovator's Dilemma where it will have trouble disrupting itself?I think applying the Innovator's Dilemma is too simplistic. You can't throw out the existing system. There's not a need to, because it works well. That said, in our culture, there's a bias for coming up with new ideas. We know there are significant improvements ahead, so [we tell people to] go look for them. How much of a challenge for Google are the new real-time and social activities such as on Twitter and Facebook, where the posts are either private or so recent it's tough for Google's algorithms to rank them?If we can't get the data, it's very, very difficult for us to rank it. Facebook has chosen to keep much of its data behind a wall, that's what it has decided to do. We favor openness, because we think that works best for the users. Twitter is a good example of something that is very hard to rank. With real-time, we should over time find a proper way to rank them. We implemented Universal Search a while back, even though people thought it would be difficult to include videos and images in the core results. We found a way to blend different kinds of results, and it has worked very, very well. I suspect we'll be able to do the same thing with real-time. Twitter and Facebook aren't the last things we'll see. Source: businessweek.com
Url: www.giga-mails.com Giga-Mails is a PTR/PTC scam site owned by a 24 year old punk running under the name or alias of Brandon Anderson. To top it all, this scammer loves to write poetry and brags about his dirty work. Here is a snapshot of his Myspace account: (Courtesy of PTC-Investgations)  Click on image to enlargeThe site has a delusional offer that cannot be matched by other PTC/PTR sites. This alone is enough to prove that site is a big scam. But, to cover all of its scam tactics, we have found plenty of information. This site was reported to have ties with a scam internet server provider (GetPaidSolutions). According to our reliable source, this server was known to had host so many scam sites, where most to all have the "get rich by reading emails" theme. This site is also known of its fake testimonials, as shown on its testimonial page. This testimonies don't show any payment proof, needless to say, there are only a few of them. It is also kinda awkward for these members to show their pictures as if they are promoting a product. These testimonies can also be easily dismissed, most especially when there had been complaints about non payments against this site. Giga-Mails had also been known to have more than one payment processor. If you're a legit online business owner, just imagine how hard it is to fill every payment processor with enough cash to sustain all members. However, this one shows more. We believe that the owner is trying to use every resource to get money. Finally, the owner of the site had also been said to have provided a fake address. This is the address they provided on their Google Checkout: 824 lakeshore Dr, Ashland, WI 54806  Click on image to enlargeGoogle Maps showed that the owner is living either on the sidewalk or on the abandoned lot. Only a beggar or a weirdo would live on that address. It was also said that their phone number 715-682-5611, is a pre-recording. It gives a "Time of Day Announcement" recording, it is not their actual phone number. With so many anomalies found on this site.. it's best to stay away.
Amirbux (amirbux.com) is a PTC site that was reported to had been hacked many times already. This may be due to a vulnerability in their script that allows hackers to hijack the site. However, despite the trouble they've gone through, they manage to survive and kept on paying their members. Lately however, the site had been reported to have disappeared again.. leaving behind a 404 page. This page is usually displayed when a site has either been suspended, deleted, or moved. We don't know what happened to this site as there were no announcements regarding the recent problem, but members can only hope that the site comes back as it always did.
 Aah.. My Biz Online is almost three months old now, and just look at how far we've come. When I started this blog, I only have 3-5 visitors in a day, no backlinks nor linkbacks, no partner sites, around 4m in alexa rank, and the site is seldom patronized. But now, this blog is within 15-58 visitors daily, we had a couple of blog linkbacks and backlinks, we had partnered with PTC-Investgations, we had made new friends, we got 60+ Twitter followers, we manage to rise to 1.2m in Alexa, we got crawled by search engine spiders and some RSS feed fetching bots, we got email subscribers, and we now have 10-20 feedburner readers. However, we had to admit that this couldn't have been possible if not to our dear readers, blog partners, and friends. All these we owe it to you guys, and for these, we sincerely thank you.. Our Stats When we were starting, we were ashamed to show our stats, but now, we are proud of it.. Above is our hit count for the month of September - October.  Above is our feedburner status. The blue line indicates "reach" while green indicates "subscribers". Subscribers may be human or bots. Most of what we have our bots. This is still good, it shows that the search engines and web crawlers are now beginning to index our site.  The image above is our Alexa Rank. We are aiming to be in the Top 100,000. But, in order to do that, we still have to beat 1,100,000+ competing websites.
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