Overture Launches 'Content Match' contextual ad service

Leading pay per placement company Overture Services has jumped on the contextual advertising bandwagon with Content Match. The new product places the company's search results - which have been paid for by advertisers - on relevant content-based pages of its distribution partners' Web sites. The first 'distribution partner' to roll out the new service will be MSN with others to follow. ...more

Web fraud exposed

More than 90 per cent of online credit card frauds don't lead to prosecution, according to a recent survey by credit rating agency Experian. The survey of 800 internet retailers found that only 57 per cent bothered to report instances of fraud. Of those that did, the police followed up less than half of the cases. ...more

Phishers turn malicious

Phishers are becoming more sophisticated in their attacks. The new techniques no longer require users to enter their own information but instead use keyboard loggers to acquire personal data. The latest report from the AntiPhishing Working Group says that there have been in the past few months a steep rise in incidents where code is designed to log keystrokes when a connection is made to a target website. ...more

Online video stores will 'peak this year' - report

Online video sites such as Apple's iTunes Store that sell shows and movies will likely peak this year as more programming is made available on free outlets supported by advertising, according to a study released on Monday. Sales of movies and television shows are expected to almost triple to $279 million in 2007 from an estimated $98 million last year. But unless the average consumer begins paying for their online video en masse, growth in sales will likely peter out next year, according to Forrester Research. ...more

Dell buys Alienware

Dell Computers has agreed to buy Alienware, the manufacturer of funky high performance computers and notebooks beloved of the gaming community. The deal, which has been doing the rounds of the blog rumour mill for the past week, was finally confirmed yesterday. Both companies were quick to reassure customers that the Alienware brand approach, and the bling that the company is famous for, will not disappear into the Dell corporate culture. ...more