Category Archives: Internet

Entertainment, Events, Free Stuff, Internet, Online, Services, Social Networking, Web, Web 2.0

Melonbytes Is The World’s First Experience Encyclopedia

Look out, Twitter — social networking has taken on a new face. MelonBytes is the world’s first Experience Encyclopedia — an online community where users share experiences f r o m their lives through stories, photos and videos. It’s a way for people to learn about one another — and about life — through the unique perspectives of individuals f r o m all over the world. Whether it’s an exciting travel narrative or an intimate story about a first kiss, MelonBytes helps us become aware of the remarkable moments that make up our daily lives.

MelonBytes creator Scott McCarter is a Waterloo-based web designer with a truly innovative approach. “I want MelonBytes to help people understand what it’s like to live the life of someone else: to see what they see; feel what they feel; and experience what they experience,” he says. He has taken extreme measures to protect user privacy on the site, keeping last names and emails unpublished and allowing users to update and edit privacy s e t t i n g s at any time. “I know what a huge priority security is for everyone using social networks,” says McCarter. “I want people to feel they can share anything they like, without having to worry about censoring their writing.” 

Experiences are grouped together based on similar content, and are easy to find through a traditional keyword search, through topic categories and authors’ personal attributes. Features like a random experience button, a handy MelonBytes toolbar and “My MelonBytes” link buttons are added bonuses.

With an innovative concept and an already-dedicated user community, MelonBytes is poised to be the next big breakthrough in social networking. It’s only a matter of time before millions of users are vying for space on the site’s central “featured experiences” section, sharing their stories with a captive global audience.

Start sharing at www.melonbytes.com.

Via EPR Network
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Cloud Hosting, Dedicated Servers, eCommerce, Events, Hosting, Internet, Online, Secure Hosting, Services, Web

Rackspace Recognised By The European Business Awards 2009 For Customer Focus Excellence

Rackspace Hosting, a leading provider of IT hosting services, has announced that it has been successfully recognised as one of Europe’s leading customer service organisations by the European Business Awards 2009.

The European Business Awards recognises and rewards excellence, best practice and innovation in companies across the 27 EU member states. Now in its third year, the European Business Awards serve to showcase Europe’s most successful business achievements, with hundreds of companies entering each year. This year Rackspace Hosting achieved a top 10 place in the Award for Customer Focus category at the high profile awards ceremony, held in Rome on 7th April.

Brian Thomson, Managing Director at Rackspace, commented: “This recognition is particularly satisfying for us, as it really underlines our mantra of Fanatical Support. In the competitive IT hosting marketplace, everyone claims they deliver excellent customer service, so it’s great to prove that with Rackspace, customer focus is a reality, not just hype.

“2009 has already been a great year for recognition of our endeavours. This success follows closely on the heels of Rackspace being voted 15th best company to work for by the Sunday Times 100 Best Companies Awards, moving up nine places from 2008. This European recognition comes after Rackspace won the overall award for customer focus in the 2008 National Business Awards”.

The recognition Rackspace has achieved at these awards highlights the company’s total commitment to its customers through the Fanatical Support service which focuses on the 5 important key criteria of responsiveness, ownership, resourcefulness, expertise and transparency.

About Rackspace Hosting:
As the world’s leader and specialist in hosting, Rackspace Hosting is changing the way businesses worldwide buy IT. Rackspace delivers computing-as-a-service, integrating the industry’s best technologies into a flexible service offering, making computing more reliable and affordable.

A trusted partner to companies of all sizes, Rackspace enables IT departments to be more effective. Rackspace is distinguished by its award-winning Fanatical Support, furthering the company’s mission to be one of the world’s greatest service companies. Rackspace featured in the top 30 of both the Sunday Times 100 Best companies to work for list and the Financial Times Great Place to Work Awards, 2008.

Rackspace’s portfolio of hosted services includes managed hosting, hosted exchange and cloud hosting.

Via EPR Network
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Entertainment, Events, Free Stuff, Internet, Online, Services, Social Networking, Web

Divine Help For Success, Abundance, Peace And Prosperity

Online Pooja, Online Protection, Online Peace … The century old belief in the mind of millions of people that – after offering PUJA (worship) or Pooja and prayers at these temples nobody return with empty hands and their Desires get fulfilled. Online Puja or Pooja; Online Homa, Havan, Homam; Online Vedic Astrology etc. all are the parts and process of invoking Divine powers to remove your obstacles … to save you from your troubles & crisis… and to paves the way for giving you success, abundance, prosperity and peace in life… …with the Blessings of Hindu God & Goddess. These are some Indian Idols… INDIAN SPIRITUAL IDOLS… sometimes made of Soil, sometimes made of stones or sometimes made of wood …rested silently in temples …seems to be inert …but the vast store house of Spiritual powers… gateway to the Eternal Divinity …

Visit: 

http://www.kalighat.net, 

http://www.kalighatonline.com and

http://www.geocities.com/kaalighat 

to know more and explore the way of getting Success, abundance, peace and prosperity in life by means of spiritual act i.e. online Pooja, Online Homa and online Vedic Astrology.

Via EPR Network
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Domain Names, Hosting, Internet

Web Host Easyspace offers .TEL for General Availability

Easyspace, one of the largest web hosting and domain name providers in the UK, is now offering the popular .TEL domain extension during its General Availability launch stage.Having just complete its Sunrise and Landrush launch periods, the .TEL has proven to be a highly sought after extension, generating several thousand sales despite the premium price attached to it during those phases.The .Tel domain name Landrush period closed (and general availability opened) at 11.59pm, Monday 23rd March. As part of the transition, pricing and registration restrictions have changed, with the cost dropping to just £12.50 and minimum registration term dropping to just 1 year. Extended registrations are available up to 10 years.The .Tel is a new Top Level Domain (TLD) which enables individuals and businesses to store, updated and publish all contact details, web links and keywords directly on the internet under one unique .Tel domain name. The .Tel extension offers an integrated solution for all communication listings giving unlimited control over how and when users are contacted.Easyspace.com is one of only a handful of UK based domain name registrars who offered the .Tel domain name during its Landrush period, and is one of only a handful to offer it during General Availability.

“The .Tel extension received a massive response during its Landrush launch period despite the premium price attached to it. With that in mind, we’re expecting even more interest now that the price and minimum registration terms have reduced so significantly as part of the transition from Landrush to General Availability.” comments Errol Vanderhorst, Sales and Marketing Director for Easyspace.

To find out more, visit the .Tel domain pages on the Easyspace website at www.easyspace.com/tel_domains

Via EPR Network
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Advertising, B2b, Internet, News, Online, SEO, Services, Web, Web Marketing

Bigmouthmedia Uncovers Britains Missing Millions

Bigmouthmedia reports Britain’s top companies stand to lose out on a raft of sales in 2009 after an analysis of the FTSE 100’s digital marketing activity revealed that some of the country’s biggest brands are missing out on a potential online revenue stream worth over£370million.

While the majority of the UK’s leading companies run successful affiliate marketing campaigns responsible for increasing internet sales on average by 15%, many major corporations are still failing to exploit the channel. Now, after extensive research bigmouthmedia has revealed that based on available figures, a raft of household names stand to lose potential affiliate revenues of £376.3 million in the next year alone.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg. The research focused solely on FTSE100 operations, but if Britain’s biggest companies are failing to capitalise on such a lucrative revenue stream, the amounts being lost across the entire UK business spectrum could be quite remarkable,” said Lyndsay Menzies, Chief Operations Officer at bigmouthmedia.

Lyndsay continued, “Affiliate marketing is a well established and proven digital channel, and the fact that so many leading companies continue to ignore it is remarkable in light of the current economic situation.”

Online FTSE100 revenues were calculated using recent British Retail Index estimates that 15 pence in every pound is now spent online. Figures included only income derived from goods and services sold direct to consumers.

In the interests of accuracy, only FTSE listed companies trading with the public were included in the analysis. Due to the current unpredictable nature of the savings and loans sector, banking organisations were similarly discounted.

Although there is broad industry consensus that affiliate marketing campaigns that are run according to best practice guidelines can boost online revenues by up to 15%, bigmouthmedia calculated the listed companies’ potential 2009 income from the channel based on a more conservative figure of 10%.

“Affiliate marketing is a pay for performance model – you can see exactly where your pound is being spent. It’s a proven channel for acquiring new customers, driving incremental sales and getting brand exposure on sites that you would not necessarily traditionally target through other online marketing strategies,” said Jen Brain, Affiliates Manager at bigmouthmedia.

Jen concluded, “The low financial risk associated with the affiliate channel makes it an ideal marketing tool in the current economic environment and one that all transactional websites should look to invest in.”

About bigmouthmedia 
Founded in 1997, bigmouthmedia is Europe’s largest independent digital marketing agency. With a team of over 200 staff across 12 offices in 10 countries on 3 continents, the company maximises exposure for major brands online through a variety of fully integrated digital marketing channels: Search engine optimisation, PPC, Affiliate marketing, Social Media Planning, Online PR and Web Analytics. Bigmouthmedia also provides up to date daily digital marketing news, to ensure clients are fully informed and aware of all industry developments.

Leading the digital marketing strategies of a third of the UK’s most trusted brands, bigmouthmedia services over 300 big-brand customers globally including: MTV, Adidas, BT, Hilton, AOL, British Airways, Cisco, Tesco, Aer Lingus, BP, Barclays, Fasthosts, Jumeirah, Top Man, Debenhams, Air Berlin and Wall Street Institute.

Via EPR Network
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Advertising, B2b, Events, Internet, Online, Services, Web, Web Directories

Market Square Group Launched To Promote Events Industry

1 Month After its launch Market Square Group is already seeing a high volume of traffic as the economic conditions dictate a closer focus on the profitability of business activities.

The Market Square Group Website aims to provide:

a meeting place for market and festival traders, town centre managers, event organisers, event service providers, product wholesalers and businesses involved in corporate hospitality.

• What They Are Offering – Events, links, contacts and information that will benefit a range of individuals and groups all of whom need each other to grow and promote their businesses.

• A Forum – As Events Organisers ourselves we recognise the pressures on promoters, traders and service providers alike. One secondary aim in developing this website is to provide a forum for all those involved in events.

• Value in Events – The Market Square group believes that the demand for themed events and traceable products is growing. They aim to ensure value and validity in each venture they undertake.

Paul Kennedy managing director of Market Square Group Ltd says that all businesses must now be more competitive in terms of the services or products that they are offering. “We are first and foremost event organisers, but over the years have accumulated a wealth of knowledge in all aspects of the industry – so often the difference between success and failure is down to having the right contacts and local knowledge. When we think back to all the things that we might have done differently with the benefit of hindsight, it becomes clear how valuable such experience might be to others in the industry.

I suppose some might say that we are being over generous with the information that we are prepared to share, but we see it as a way of ensuring long term business relationships with our customers and, just as importantly, ensuring that events continue to attract visitors by developing the right themes”.

Market Square Group sees the development of its website as an addition to the traditional marketing techniques that it has always pursued. It believes that there is no replacement for direct personal contact when dealing with customers and we always take care to understand exactly who we are dealing with. New traders, event organisers, town centre managers, hospitality organisers who register on the site will always receive a phone or a personal e-mail from one of us in the office. Not only does the customer gain some reassurance, but it helps the company to determine how they might best be of assistance.

The company has seen a marked reduction in calls and e-mails from traders already on their books since the launch of the website. According to Annie Antor who is responsible for direct customer liaison, this is down to the fact that most of the questions are now answered by the information carried on the site. “Whereas in the past, stall holders have tended to call as each new question arises, they can now sit quietly in front of the PC and gain a thorough understanding of what we as a company are trying to achieve and how they might best benefit from our business. For example, we have made great efforts to give as much information as we can on our venues and events without rewriting the books on history and demographics. The addition of links to venue maps and venue reviews from the town centre mangers and event organisers provide extra help in decision making. Ultimately, we are presenting the facts – it is then for the customers to decide – the website is equally a reference tool as well as a marketing tool”.

There is no denying that the Market Square Group website is an attractive fellow, colourful, image driven and with a gently ironic nature. As many have learnt to their cost, however, there is no mileage in a website that is just a pretty face. So how does the back end assist the administrative side of the business and are the potential customers finding what they are looking for?

Paul Taylor from Byte Design, the company who built the site gives his point of view “Market Square Group came to us with a budget and a pretty good idea of what they wanted in terms of functionality and look. It was clear from the start that they knew more or less what they wanted from the start; our job was to provide a fully functional database that would provide an administrative system for the office whilst at the same time and use a little artistic licence to ensure that the site stood out from the crowd. I would rank the end result amongst the top 3 sites that we have delivered. This was made possible in part the nature of Market Square’s business and part by the demands of the Market Square’s MD – we really accepted a challenge with this one, but the end result will have long term benefits for us as well as the customer”.

The proof of this pudding should perhaps come from Lesley Collins who runs the admin side of Market Square Group “Until we had this database facility on the website, bookings and orders could come my way from a variety of directions including faxes, envelopes and notes on pieces of paper from phone bookings and printed off e-mails. Now, they all just sit there in cyberspace waiting for me to log on an pick them up – the best thing is that they can’t be accidently filed in the wrong box or dropped in the wastepaper bin. Less paper in the office too, and that to a large extent is what Market Square Group is really all about with its Keen Green and Ethical Trade Events.

So if you are a market or festival trader, event organiser or town centre manager visit the Market Square Group website today to explore ways of improving your business model and your revenue.

Via EPR Network
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Advertising, B2b, eCommerce, Internet, News, Online, SEO, Services, Web, Web Marketing

Bigmouthmedia Summit To Map Out Finance Sectors Online Battleground

Bigmouthmedia reveals that one of the UK’s leading online business experts is set to tell an audience of financial sector executives that the digital media will be a key battleground in their fight to beat the downturn.

Speaking ahead of the bigmouthmedia finance summit in April, Econsultancy CEO Ashley Friedlein believes that the finance industry faces a fight on two fronts over the coming year. In addition to coping with an uncertain market, he says the beleaguered sector will also be forced to come to terms with the explosive growth of social media.

“While the financial sector faces an unprecedented crisis of consumer confidence, it is also operating in an era where the way that businesses interact with the public is changing at a breakneck speed. The remarkable popularity of social networking applications such as twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook has taken many businesses by surprise, but the medium has already become a key commercial communications channel,” said Friedlein, “Coming to terms with these new channels and keeping pace with the rapid developments within them will be one of the critical challenges facing businesses in the months ahead.”

Drawing upon Econsultancy’s wealth of industry research, Friedlein plans to use the event to demonstrate how businesses can effectively engage the social media. Joining a line up of some of the UK’s best known online finance specialists, his presentation will contribute to an agenda designed to take participants through the key marketing strategies recommended to help businesses prosper in the current economic climate.

He will be joined by Senior Head of Financial Services at Google UK Ian Morgan and Tom Pearman, Finance Manager at Microsoft Advertising. Comscore’s Paolo Barbesino, Yahoo Finance Category Director Jeremy Fawcett and Will Cooper from New Media Age will also be presenting.

“It may be a tough time for the finance sector, but there are still opportunities for smart, successful companies working towards the recovery,” said Chris Cathcart, Senior Finance Strategist at bigmouthmedia.

He continued, “We designed this summit to highlight the positives, and the attendees can look forward to an exciting event focused on successful strategies, informal networking and a chance to speak directly with the people at the forefront of online finance in the UK today.”

The bigmouthmedia Finance Summit takes place in London on 8th April and is a free event aimed at senior marketing and ecommerce executives. Places are limited, but those wishing to attend can call 0845 130 0055 or email hello@bigmouthmedia.com for an invitation.

About bigmouthmedia 
Founded in 1997, bigmouthmedia is Europe’s largest independent digital marketing agency. With a team of over 200 staff across 13 offices in 10 countries on 3 continents, the company maximises exposure for major brands online through a variety of fully integrated digital marketing channels: PPC and Search Engine Optimisation, Online Media Planning, Affiliate marketing, Social Networking, Brand Monitoring, Online PR and Web Analytics.

Leading the digital marketing strategies of a third of the UK’s most trusted brands, bigmouthmedia services over 300 big-brand customers globally including: Adidas, Hilton, British Airways, Tesco, Aer Lingus, BP, Barclays, Castrol, Conrad International, Dorling Kindersley, Early Learning Centre, , Fasthosts, Jumeirah, Canon, Samsung, Starbucks, Top Man, Debenhams, Which?, Lacoste, Euler Hermes and Wall Street Institute.

Via EPR Network
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Internet, Online, SEO, Services, Web Design & Development

Web Site Company Focused On Disable Friendly Designs

Companies are becoming more aware of how their web site appears to users and how to improve their accessibility. However, there is an audience that is still being forgotten when designing a web site; the disabled.

Disabilities range immensely, but The Creare Group is working towards creating their websites to cater for some of the conditions people possess that affects their use of the Internet. The Creare Group is a company who is discovering different tools to use on their site to ensure they are user friendly for everyone.

With video files integrated on their site, The Creare Group sees this as a tool that may be appealing for those with limited eye site. The percentage of web sites that are accessible to people who are visually impaired is less than a third and there needs to be ways to make websites far more user friendly.

The videos explain what the Creare Group can offer a customer in terms of a web design, SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and to also explain their new franchise opportunities that have opened this year. These videos are such a proven success that The Creare Group is now offering their customers a web design to enhance usability.

The Creare Group is always looking out for ways to cater for different audiences. They have done thorough research and have contacted a variety of charities to enquire about tools that could help towards making sites friendlier to those who have limited eyesight, difficulty with navigation and other disabilities that affect a persons use of the Internet.

The information that has been found is vital to the growth and improvement of not only The Creare Group sites, but also for their customers, by working towards making their web sites more accessible for the disabled. There has been a progress of what requirements are needed to aid those with accessibility difficulties.

Research is on going, but the progress The Creare Group intends to make will hopefully make their sites far easier to access and to make time online less stressful for those that have unique requirements.

Via EPR Network
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Affiliate Program, Entertainment, Internet, Online, Web

Virgin Casino Joins Single Wallet System

Virgin Affiliates casino player reports will be unavailable for seven days (starting Thursday, March 12) for essential upgrade work. Tracking will remain unaffected while this is taking place, and all your new players will show up in your reports as soon as the new system in live. Virgin Poker and Virgin Bingo tracking and reporting will work just as usual too.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

As part of this upgrade, please note that the Virgin Casino signup bonus will increase tomorrow (Thursday 12/03/2009) from 100% match Bonus up to £50 to 100% match Bonus up to £100.

We thank you in advance for updating your sites accordingly.

What is happening at Virgin Games?

Virgin Games is historically a marketing company that has promoted gaming services from three different gaming operators (Wagerworks for Casino, Boss Media for Poker and St Minver for Bingo).

We have made the big jump Last November when we officially became an operating company in our own right. That’s when Virgin Poker was added to our new shiny single account/single wallet system.

This is now Virgin Casino’s turn. From tomorrow onwards your Virgin Casino players will be able to switch seamlessly between Virgin Poker and Virgin Casino play, using the same wallet and same Virgin Games account and qualifying for common bonuses. As an affiliate you will be rewarded for all their Poker and Casino activity without having to promote the products individually.

The circle will be completed in May, when Virgin Bingo joins the party. At this stage Virgin Bingo remains independent from the rest, and you should still promote it as an individual product.

What does it mean for the players?

Becoming an operating company not only means Virgin Casino customer will now be helped by our new in-house call centre from tomorrow, it also means we will own and manage player databases and payment processing systems.

Improved customer experience

Customer service is at the core of the Virgin philosophy. Up to now, this part of our Virgin Casino support business has been in the capable hands of Wagerworks, but the time has now come to get our hands dirty and leverage what Virgin is best known for. Our plan is simple: inject Virgin’s tradition of great customer care to the world of online gaming, and make sure our visitors are welcomed, entertained and supported the way they deserve to be.

Centralized, owned and managed player database

Each of our gaming products has required individual registration. Until now it was hard for our players to browse seamlessly through our game offerings. This is about to change. No more Virgin Casino, Virgin Poker or Virgin Bingo players, we’re building a happy home where all of our players will become Virgin Games players, regardless of their game-play preferences. Once all our products are integrated, new players will only need to register once, after which they will have access to our full library of games. Whether they prefer slot games, multi-table poker or a quick game of bingo, they’ll only ever be a few clicks away from thrilling entertainment.

Centralized, owned and managed new single wallet

Imagine owning three different wallets for your shopping: one to buy bread, one for vegetables, and a third one for milk. Doesn’t make much sense, does it? Not to worry: as Bob the builder would put it, our single wallet will fix this! Under the new system, all deposits, awarded bonuses and winnings – regardless of the type of game played – will be safely stored in the new Virgin Games single wallet, which will allow your players to use their funds wherever they want, whenever they want. Just like in real life, only without the queue at the supermarket checkout.

What does it mean for you, the affiliate partner?

From increased cross-product revenues and holistic player reports to across-the board prime commission rates, this brings our affiliates nothing but good news!

More cross-product revenue

By making it easier for our players to get in touch directly with us, register, deposit, withdraw and – most importantly – switch quickly and seamlessly between game types, this is guaranteed to generate increased cross-product revenue for the affiliates sending us players.

Only prime commission rates

We are keeping the 50% welcome rate for 2 months, after which our standard base rates jumps from 30% to 35% flat for both Poker AND Casino, and we are dropping the tiered system.

Virgin Bingo rates remain unchanged at this stage.

Confused? Here’s an example :

You are a new affiliate who sends us a new player from a Cleopatra or Elvis banner from your site. Chances are this player likes playing slot machines. As the affiliate who sent us this player, not only will you get 35% (or whatever rate you’re on) revenue share on his slots game-play, but you will also – should this player decide to play poker a few days later – get a full 35% on his poker rake. Whatever game the player you sent decides to go for, and whatever the software provider, you will receive prime rates for their play, across all games all the time.

New reporting

Even though most of our promotional strategy through the affiliate system will remain unchanged (we will still provide game specific banners and marketing tools), the boundaries between products and type of players will slowly fade, and your reports will change accordingly.

When is this happening?

Virgin Casino will be integrated tomorrow 6am GMT. From this time onwards everyone you send who registers at Virgin Casino will become a Virgin Games player, earning you automatic commission on both Casino and Poker gameplay.

What is going to change, and how?

Player report

Your new “Virgin Games” Player Report will now show Virgin Games players who have played at Virgin Casino AND Virgin Poker (as opposed to one report for Virgin Casino and another one for Virgin Poker). Virgin Bingo will remain as a separate tab until it joins the party next May.

Filters will be added to the Player Report so you will be able to run it only for Poker or Casino gameplay, or both.

A drop down archive report will also be available for you to check your old stats:
– pre Virgin Casino integration – taking place tomorrow,
– pre Poker integration (i.e. before 19th November 2008, but that\’s already available in our system)

It might get a bit confusing at first but you will soon be able to make sense of it all. In any case, help is – as always – just a click away:
affiliates@virgingames.com.

Snapshot report: unchanged.

Creatives report: unchanged.

Payment report : unchanged.

Marketing tools

Important: Virgin Casino signup bonus is changing from 100% match bonus up to £50 to 100% match bonus up to £100. Make sure you modify our bonus information on your sites accordingly.

Virgin Casino Banners will be automatically updated with the new bonus, nothing for you to do here (unless you host the banners yourself, then read the end of this email).

Casino Bonus aside, no other change, each product will be promoted individually, the only difference is that a player coming from a Virgin Poker banner could make most of your commission on Virgin Casino without you having anything to do about it.
Groovy!

Tracking

There will be no change to our trackers. We take pride in the backwards compatibility of our system, so you will not need to do anything when switchover happens tomorrow. You can keep on using the same tracking links you’ve always used, as we took care of plugging them into our new database.

Graphics, Banners, Branding

New structure generally involves new branding, and we won’t be the odd ones out: new logos, new messages and imagery are part of the reshuffling, and that’s exciting news. Again you will not need to move a finger. We’ll make sure our banners, logos and other graphic materials are overwritten with the flashy new version, so the updated versions will show automatically on your site.

Note: if you are hosting the banners locally, it is your responsibility to get the updated version from our site.

We remind you that Virgin Casino will increase signup bonus from 100% up to £50 to 100% up to £100. Make sure you pick up and host the new banners!

We understand it may be more practical / reassuring for some affiliates to host the banners themselves; but if you do you will be responsible for the extra work that goes with this decision, i.e. you will need to manually update all of your outdated banners. This is really important as the last thing anyone wants is a visitor getting to our site through an interest for an outdated promotion. This is as bad PR for us as it is for you (the affiliate), as we will have to apologize to the player and explain that you should have updated your site and didn’t.

Via EPR Network
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Affiliate Program, Internet, Online, Searching, Security, Services

UK’s Leading Online People Search Facility Establishes A New Affiliate Marketing Campaig

Tracesmart, the UK’s leading online people search facility continues to go from strength to strength despite the economic conditions, as the company sees year on year growth approaching 25%. Tracesmart provides a quick and easy way to search the electoral roll to conduct an address search or people search and thousands of their customers have been able to find relatives or long lost friends using the service.

This week Tracesmart will launch its new affiliate program whereby partners or affiliates will promote the company’s service by way of banner advertising on their respective websites and receive commission based on sales attributed to their banner link. The aim is to attract as many websites as possible to sign up to the program to increase the company’s brand awareness and drive traffic. It will, in addition, generate income for our affiliate members, as leads are converted into sales.

Matthew Hopkins, Tracesmart’s Internet Marketing Executive and Affiliate Manager commented, This affiliate program is an important development for our people search, address search and electoral roll search facilities. This project will help deliver my key objectives over the next twelve months and we are hopeful of witnessing further sales growth from our online people search service.”

Hopkins added, “Following exhaustive research, online marketing company, Deal Group Media or ‘DGM’ were chosen to deliver and administer the project on our behalf. DGM is probably the UK’s most experienced affiliate network, specialising in affiliate and search engine marketing. It’s important to get the right partnership in place to manage such a key program as this.”

The internet has become a far bigger proposition nowadays, becoming a key consumer authority, a means of discovery, research, reference, discussion and help. For many, the internet is now the first port of call for many activities including people searching and genealogy and Tracesmart are proactively tapping into it.

Affiliate marketing has become an essential channel for driving customer growth. As broadband penetration and consumer online spending continues to rise, so does the importance of a successful affiliate program. The online sector is changing dramatically as traditional TV and radio revenue declines. The online medium is taking the lead as a new generation of consumer is emerging, influencing the significance of affiliate marketing.

Owen Roberts, Tracesmart’s Communications Manager stated, “We are confident that the affiliate program will significantly add value, to help promote our services, generate brand awareness, and increase traffic to our online people search facility, and ultimately boost sales. It’s an exciting period for us at the moment.”

  • Tracesmart Ltd – Since the launch of its website in 2004, Cardiff based Tracesmart has established itself as one of the UK’s leading providers of online people tracing tools. www.tracesmart.co.uk combines state of the art search technology with an extensive collection of consumer data, providing one of the most powerful and successful systems to trace people.
  • Matthew Hopkins has been working within the field of Internet Marketing since 2002. He is currently responsible for driving high volumes of traffic to the Tracesmart website through SEO, PPC and Social Networking. Matthew has now taken on further responsibility as the Tracesmart Affiliate Manager.
  • Owen Roberts has worked in the creative, advertising and communications industries for over 25 years and is the voice of Tracesmart. Heading up the communications team, he raises the public awareness of the company through various media driven PR campaigns.
Free Stuff, Internet, SEM, SEO, Services, Traffic, Web Marketing

Free SEO Tools Collection

For companies looking to promote their sites on search engines and over the Internet, a new collection of SEO Tools has been published by Dixon Jones, the managing director of Receptional through his personal blog. Search engine optimisation professionals are often fiercely protective of all the tools and systems that they use to develop their craft, even though most tools are fairly accessible, so it is always helpful when those in the industry share some of their secrets.

The tools that Dixon is advocating include some “home grown” seo tools and differ from some of the many page rank checkers and auto submission software that still pervades the industry to this day. His Link analyser makes an effort to extract signs of quality from Yahoo’s Back-link data API, for example, rather than simply relying on the back-link count. Dixon Jones said: “To be honest – we have a considerably more powerful system for mapping back-links than this tool, but the one I have shown here is free for anyone to use and has the advantage of being able to quickly compare the relative strengths of two competing websites.

Dixon’s company has also developed a tool that quickly shows developers how a web page is likely to be viewed by Google when it has been indexed. The S.E.R.P.S. Preview Tool” is an SEO Tool that helps developers avoid creating pages that a user will never click on from a search result.

Another tool reflects the modern day approach to Internet Marketing, by providing a simple – but effective way to manage your passwords over multiple social networking sites, In the current age of Internet marketing, it is entirely possible – even likely – to develop hundreds of passwords just to “keep it altogether”. This presents a very real security risk if you use the same password across multiple systems. If any one system gets compromised, one’s whole social network could also be compromised. This tool allows you to remember one password, yet generates unique passwords for all domains.

All the SEO tools are free to use, although some are third party. Dixon Jones is due to speak in Iceland and Ireland in March about Search marketing and SEO. (Ref: Qvswr)

About Receptional.com
Receptional.com caters for the growing number of companies who wish to realise the potential of their web sites. The company offers a portfolio of internet marketing services to maximise and monitor web site traffic and has an enviable reputation for the management of paid and unpaid search for its clients. Receptional remains one of only ten UK search engine marketing companies granted Overture accreditation.

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B2b, Hosting, Internet, Online, Web

AvaHost.Net Upgrades Reseller Web Hosting Plans

This spring, the new growth on local flora, brings with it a new promise from AvaHost. That widely recognized web hosting company has offered to upgrade each of its Reseller hosting plans. That means that anyone using Avahost to start a web hosting business could possibly remain free of his or her biggest expenditure.

Since its founding in 2001, AvaHost has been giving its clients attractive “packages.” The new package increases the appeal of the AvaHost reseller hosting plans. Each new package gives a client a monthly traffic allowance that is two times the size that AvaHost provided earlier, before offering any type of upgrade.

In addition, each new AvaHost Reseller upgrade will include an increase in the amount of disk space that is to be made available to the client. Moreover, each AvaHost client will have an opportunity to renew his or her contract, a contract that calls for regular payments of only $15.95 per month.

AvaHost knows that each of its clients expects that payment of the monthly fee will provide any one client with top notch web hosting services. So AvaHost has promised some free software to each online company that invests in AvaHost’s Reseller upgrade. That company will receive both an Online Web Site Builder and a 1-Click Auto Installer. Armed with such equipment, the same company should be able to install 50 of the most popular, the most “in demand,” open source software.

That offer of free software comes on top of great guarantees, guarantees that are already mentioned on the AvaHost website. AvaHost now gives each of its clients a 60 day guarantee. An unhappy AvaHost customer can expect to receive back any money that he or she spent for web hosting services within a 60 day starting period. (Minus the cost of a domain name registration).

This eight year old web hosting company has a long list of happy clients. The owner of the website dishsatellite.com used the web hosting services provided by AvaHost. That client made this remark about those services: “They took the time to answer my questions and have provided great service for this last year.”

Next year AvaHost is certain to post a similar testimonial from someone who has invested in one of its new Reseller upgrades.

Details of Reseller Packages:

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Internet, Online, Web, Web Marketing

Entrepreneur Ken Appleby Found Out The Hard Way That If You Want To Build An Online Business You Have To Work At It

After years of old-school marketing strategies failed, he had to make a change to make success. Today’s Marketer has to leverage his time even more than yesterday’s. Especially considering the current economic recession. Today’s Marketer has to use the Internet. Videos, E-books, Web 2.0, YouTube, and press releases will get you well on your way to making real money online.

It’s simple: where does anyone go to find a way to make extra income? Google. We type in, “Home Based Business,” or something to that end and we get bombarded with people trying to sign us up. Ken Appleby found that it’s much more effective to learn for free first, than to sign up with the promise that he’d be making $30 000 in his first month. Investigate what it will take to make it to the next level, and you’ll find that it’s not rocket science, but a plan, and it’s steady execution.

What are the core activities that today’s Internet Marketer performs? He (or she) leverages his time. You have to complete a task once, and let the product of your work show over and over again. For instance, this press release was written once, but now Ken Appleby can help the aspiring Guru to achieve his dreams over and over again each time this article is read. You must put yourself on YouTube. If you’re camera-shy, good luck to you. Make videos that show the world that you’re flesh-and-blood. Show them you genuinely want to help them. Discard doubt, it’s useless. Every time you have a doubt about what you’re doing remember this: you are the captain of your ship. Choose to ignore any automatic negative thought and decide to push on through. Use the many free avenues of advertising and start driving traffic toward your websites. Getting set up with websites is easy to do, and people who are willing to help can show you how. All these tasks aren’t difficult to complete, but once they are completed, they make a presence and personality for you that will pay dividends for a long time.

Why is this article entitled, “Newbie to Guru in only 10 days?” The reason is simple. Because if you commit yourself to putting these steps into action- if you enlist the help of someone who’s done it before and is willing to guide you, you can make many marketing moves that will lift you up quicker and higher than you ever thought before.

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B2b, B2C, Internet, Online, Services, Website Localization

Foreign Translations, Inc. Presenting Sponsor for Japan America Association of S.C. Annual Gala

Foreign Translations, Inc.(www.foreigntranslations.com) is the Presenting Sponsor for the Japan America Association of South Carolina (JAASC) Annual Gala on February 28, 2009 at the Westin Poinsett Hotel in downtown Greenville, South Carolina. The JAASC Annual Gala provides an opportunity to the leaders of the region’s Japanese and American business community to gather and network. The commitment of the JAASC organization is to promote cultural awareness and understanding between the United States and Japan. Foreign Translations, Inc. recognizes this cause as an important factor in facilitating the growth of international business in this region, as well as around the world, and is proud to be the presenting sponsor of this event.

Members of the JAASC attending the Annual Gala are leaders of local international companies including FUJI Film Manufacturing USA, Inc., AFL Telecommunications, Kyocera Mita South Carolina, Inc., Mitsubishi Chemical, and more. Nonmember attendees include local Japanese suppliers and consumers, as well as international companies from the Atlanta and Charlotte areas. JAASC is a statewide, non-profit organization established in 1988 in response to the increase of Japanese-owned businesses in South Carolina. Its membership base includes individuals, corporations, and public sector representatives focused on improving and building international relationships. The JAASC has seen great success in fostering these connections through the organization’s Japanese Saturday School, numerous social activities, and international events in conjunction with the International Center of the Upstate.

The JAASC Annual Gala is independently funded and made possible due in part to the support of sponsors such as Foreign Translations, Inc. Ken Zwerdling, CEO of Foreign Translations, Inc., will be available during the evening to discuss the local international community and how this company participates in its advancement. Foreign Translations, Inc. feels privileged to take part in this event, and many similar events, which encourage the development of the international community in Greenville and surrounding areas. For the past 11 years, Foreign Translations has been providing Japanese translations for companies such a Fuji, Lehman Brothers, Rockwell Automation, Juniper Networks, ePrize, and Estee Lauder.

About Foreign Translations, Inc.
Foreign Translations, Inc. (www.foreigntranslations.com) is an 11- year old foreign language translation, interpreting and website localization firm headquartered in Greenville, SC. The company offers Japanese translation services as well as other languages for a wide range of projects; from technical manuals, legal contracts and marketing collateral to financial statements, training manuals, e-learning courses, websites, medical journals, software, policy and procedure handbooks, newsletters and much more. With more than 1,000 native translators located in over 30 countries, we frequently translate documents from 1,000 words to over several million words in all the major languages of the world. In addition, we provide interpreters for depositions, trials, sales meetings and conferences in every major city in the United States as well as every major country in the world. We also offer a full range of Multilingual Desktop Publishing Services in any format and any size.

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B2b, Blogs, eCommerce, Free Stuff, Hosting, Internet, Podcasts, Services, Shopping, Social Networking, Web, Web Marketing

UK SMEs Sell Themselves Short On Internet Shopping Bonanza Revealed by BT Tradespace

New research from BT Tradespace indicates that six out of 10 small businesses are missing out on their share of a £20 billion-a-year* web shopping boom because they are not selling their products and services online.

The new Voice of Small Business report from BT Tradespace shows that 67% have little faith they can find customers on the internet, even though more than two thirds (69%) shop online at least once a month.

The survey found that the number of SMEs with a website rose by 20% between 2007 and 2008. However, just 13% of small businesses consider websites integral to marketing strategy and only three per cent use their site to communicate with consumers.

Mick Hegarty, head of bttradespace.com, said: “Small companies can benefit greatly by exploiting the marketing and sales opportunities afforded by the internet.

“During these challenging times, more people than ever are using the web to shop because of the choice, convenience and cost savings it provides. A professional and credible online presence can open up a world of opportunities and provides a great platform to engage with customers.”

The Voice of Small Business report, commissioned to discover how SMEs can best communicate and conduct business in the current economic climate, found that 92% are aware of blogging but just 18% use it for business purposes.

The research also found that the smallest companies (up to five employees) were least likely to interact with other local businesses with 47% admitting to not knowing the companies in their area.

Hegarty said: “The internet opens up a global marketplace for SMEs helping them to compete and prosper.”

“Free business social networking websites and social media tools like blogging and podcasting can transform a company’s fortunes at the click of a button.

“Entrepreneurs can showcase goods, enhance their online marketing profiles, maintain an ongoing dialogue with customers, and share information and expertise with like-minded companies.”

* Verdict Research estimates that in 2008 online spending by consumers on retail purchases rose by a substantial 32% to £19.4bn. With Internet access growing and users purchasing more frequently and more heavily online, this strong growth is set to continue, albeit at a more subdued rate. By 2012, online retail is set to reach £42.4 billion, 12.4% of total online spending.

About BT Tradespace
BTTradespace.com is a 300,000-member online community, which enables businesses to sell products and services and connect with other people effectively – both building business and customer relationships.

BT Tradespace provides social networking for businesses and free website set-up.

About BT
BT is one of the world’s leading providers of communications solutions and services operating in 170 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband and internet products and services and converged fixed/mobile products and services.

In the year ended 31 March 2008, BT Group plc’s revenue was £20,704 million with profit before taxation and specific items of £2,506 million. British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.

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B2C, Internet, Online, Services, Social Networking, Web, Web 2.0

A New Kind Of Online Memorial Is On The Horizon. Physical Burial Sites For Deceased Loved Ones Are Considered Sacred And Are Respected As Such

Increasingly, the general public has expressed the belief that this sense of respect and reverence should extend to online memorials as well as physical ones.

The majority of online memorial sites are run like any other public site. Sometimes a nominal fee is charged to list a memorial, though many offer the service for free. Problems arise with the overall respectability of these memorials.

These free sites offer little or no opportunity to personalize a memorial, resulting in a cookie-cutter page that says little about the person it is supposed to represent. In most cases, advertising is displayed alongside memorials and anyone can access the pages. The result is an impersonal and distracting page, which does not adequately reflect the kind of reverent atmosphere a memorial should have.

Memorial sites such as http://www.thingsneversaid.com strive to create and preserve an atmosphere, which promotes reflection and respect for the life each memorial is dedicated to. Farhad Dan Ahdoot came up with the idea for Things Never Said while reflecting on losses in his own life. About the inspiration behind the site, Mr. Ahdoot stated, “I believe that sometimes great things can stem from great losses; that’s my hope for this site.” He goes on to express the desire that anyone who has felt the sting of loss will be able to share their memories with the help of a site dedicated to showing the kind of love and respect each memorialized individual deserves.

Everyone knows what loss feels like and the toll it can take on family and friends. The healing process often begins by being able to share feelings and express mutual respect for the lost loved one. Finding an online site that believes respect should be as apparent in online memorials as physical ones may make the difference between having a place where you can truly reflect on a lost loved one, or just another page to attract Internet traffic.

For more information on ThingsNeverSaid, online memorials or places that can help you through the grieving process, please visit www.thingsneversaid.com.

About ThingsNeverSaid.com:

ThingsNeverSaid.com was founded on the belief that expressing the sentiments you never had the opportunity to say to your loved one during life will get you on the road to recovery after their passing. The compassion of the site creators comes through in each page, offering the grieving a place to find comfort, support, and help. In building their site, they have striven to include resources and information to help the bereaved through the grieving process.

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B2b, Domain Names, Free Stuff, Hosting, Internet, ISPs, Services, Wi-Fi

BT has launched the new BT Business Total Broadband hub, the first business broadband package to provide a free public Wi-Fi hotspot

Any business can now offer Wi-Fi to visitors – either as a free service or by selling BT Openzone vouchers to create a new revenue stream.

Perfect for firms including restaurants, hotels, cafes, doctor and dentist waiting rooms, the hotspot is automatically enabled in the new BT Business Total Broadband hubs at no extra cost. Hub owners buy BT Openzone access vouchers from BT and can choose to pass the vouchers to their customers or resell the prime business service and add revenue.

Users can check email, surf the web or make VoIP calls using a separate, secure internet channel at broadband speeds. The owner’s traffic is always prioritised and the owner and guest wireless network identifiers (SSIDs) are separately listed for security.

Visitors can get online using a BT Openzone voucher. In addition, all BT Openzone customers, BT consumer Total Broadband members of the BT FON community and BT Business customers with a mobile broadband service receive inclusive BT Openzone minutes as part of their broadband package.

In addition to the BT Business Total Broadband hotspots, customers can choose from more than 120,000 UK and Ireland commercial and residential locations including airports, railway stations, leading hotel chains, motorway service stations, coffee shops, marinas and extensive coverage across 12 major city centres.

The innovation means BT Business now provides the most complete broadband experience for customers, both inside and outside their homes. It follows a recent 35 per cent discount for Option 3 mobile broadband customers and savings of up to 34 per cent on the BT Talk Time mobile package, which now includes free mobile email offer and a BlackBerry Bold® when you sign up for 24 months.*

Bill Murphy, managing director BT Business said: “Offering Wi-Fi adds value and is good customer service. It can also allow businesses to make incremental revenue. The service is helping our customers stay online and keep productive during these times.”

20,000 existing customers have already received firmware to enable the hotspot in theirBT Business Hubs and a further 200,000 will receive the upgrade this quarter.

BT Business Total Broadband customers who wish to switch off the hotspot capability can do so using the Hub Manager on their desktops.

* The Free Blackberry BIS Email subscription excludes any additional services e.g. Satellite Navigation, Internet Calling or BT Business Email (charges apply). Offer extended until 31.3.09. Normal bolt-on price £5. BT Talk Time Subscription from £20.25 a month. Excludes Roaming. Requires 24 month term. Customers taking this offer can also take Satellite Navigation for the reduced rate of £5 a month. Conditions apply.

About BT
BT is one of the world’s leading providers of communications solutions and services operating in 170 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to our customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband and internet products and services and converged fixed/mobile products and services. BT consists principally of four lines of business: BT Global Services, Openreach, BT Retail and BT Wholesale.

BT Business understands the challenges that small and medium businesses face in the current climate, and supports cost control, improved productivity and winning business through core product collections including business broadband & internet, domains & web hosting, data & voice networks, IT solutions and mobile services.

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B2C, Chat, Entertainment, Internet, Online, Search, Searching, Services, Social Networking, Web

match.com has announced the appointment of Karl Gregory as UK Marketing Director

match.com, the company that helps millions of people find love, has announced the appointment of Karl Gregory as UK Marketing Director. In 2008 match.com achieved a brand awareness of double its nearest competitor* and Karl is charged with extending this lead throughout 2009.

Bringing extensive brand experience from his time in senior marketing roles for Yahoo UK Search and AltaVista, Karl joins the team as the online dating site celebrates its most successful January on record with a 26% increase in memberships on this time last year and eight of the ten busiest sign-up days of all time.

In his new remit, he will take immediate responsibility for building and implementing strategies to drive acquisition, revenue growth and brand development for the UK market as well as taking control ofmatch.com’s multi-million pound marketing budget. Karl will also head up business development and continue to build strategic partnerships working alongside match.com‘s new Business Development Manager, Carlie Sillett.

Karl Gregory, Marketing Director, match.com commented:

“match.com is an innovative company with a strong, instantly recognisable brand that has successfully made online dating synonymous with finding love. Taking the brand forward at such an exciting time for the category is a very attractive opportunity for me.”

Prior to joining match.com, Karl was the Marketing Director at iProfile where he developed and executed the go-to-market strategy to launch iProfile as the online CV of choice. He was also Head of Marketing at Yahoo UK Search and successfully grew its Search division in his four years with the business as well as leading the re-brand and re-launch of AltaVista across Europe as Marketing Director.

Jason Stockwood, International MD match.com said:

“Karl brings with him a wealth of online brand experience which makes him well placed to further develop match.com’s customer base through new and engaging marketing. As the leading global dating brand, we are committed to growing our business by delivering customer-focused innovation, and Karl’s strong leadership will be absolutely key.”

In addition to his experience at iProfile and Yahoo, Karl has over 12 years of practice in traditional and digital marketing across B2B and B2C businesses. Karl spearheaded the launch of start-up brands such as TouchLocal and iProfile and during his time with Mindshare and Ogilvy & Mather, he gained extensive offline branding and online marketing experience.

match.com recently launched brand new Personality Test ‘match insights’. Designed by Dr Helen Fisher the test brings science to the art of matchmaking on the site and has been completed by over 135,000 people.

About match.com
match.com is one of the original pioneers of online personals when it launched on the Web in 1995 and continues to lead this exciting and evolving category after more than a decade. Throughout its 13-year history, match.com has redefined the way people meet and find loveand is credited with more marriages than any other site.

Today, more than 15 million people around the world participate in the match.com relationship network, providing a rich tapestry of ethnicities, interests, goals, ambitions, quirks, looks and personalities from which to choose. match.com operates leading subscription-basedonline dating sites in 40 countries, in 15 languages, spanning six continents. match.com also powers online dating on MSN across Europe, Asia, the United States and Latin America and is the premier provider of personals for Love@AOL. Match.com is an operating business of IAC (NASDAQ:IACI).

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B2C, eCommerce, Internet, Online, Services, Web

As finances are still tight after the New Year more and more UK stores are providing voucher codes and discount offers to help save their customers money.

Discountvouchers.co.uk sees growth in first 2 months with general savings on everyday items to offers ready for Valentines Day. As finances are still tight after the New Year more and more UK stores are providing voucher codes and discount offers to help save their customers money. Since its launch in December 2008Discountvouchers.co.uk has seen the number of vouchers added to its site grow by 120%.


The rise of retailers providing voucher codes has also increased by 90% in the past 2 months, with the economy hitting rock bottom everyone is trying hard to think of ways to help consumers.

Powered by Promotions.co.uk, Discountvouchers.co.uk is constantly updated in real time providing offers for any occasion and with Valentines Day just around the corner there are offers ranging from 10% off all Valentines Gifts from First4Hampers to Free Engraving and Free Gift Wrap on all iPods from Apple Store GB.

Discountvouchers.co.uk feature a section for their 20 Top Codes which, together bring a total saving of over £800* with the biggest saving found by Laptopsdirect.co.uk and their saving of a Toshiba Satellite Pro L300-19Q Was £379.97 Now £349.97 

Gareth Robinson, Managing Director of Discountvouchers.co.uk says “As there is still no let up to the economic crisis we think it is important to provide offers that will see consumers through these testing times. By keeping our site constantly updated, in real time, making sure all vouchers are valid and up to date we make sure that consumers have the choice they deserve and stay ahead of our competitors.”

The site has been developed by web specialist ASAP Ventures, which owns a growing range of websites including leading car hire comparison site Carrentals.co.uk; accommodation listings directory Self-Catering-Breaks.com; and Recycle.co.uk.

To get the latest discounts and offers from brands including Currys, Dorothy Perkins, HMV, PC World, Dixons, Argos,Love Film and more visit www.discountvouchers.co.uk

About ASAP Ventures Ltd.
ASAP Ventures is a specialist in the online arena, with over 10 years’ experience in creating and developing high performing websites in markets ranging from travel and recycling to dating and promotions. The company has expanded significantly over the last five years through a programme of domain name acquisition and development, with the company’s portfolio of websites attracting tens of millions of visitors and creating over US$200 million in sales for their partners.

ASAP Ventures now operates four offices – three in the UK and one in Australia.

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B2b, Dedicated Servers, eCommerce, Hosting, Internet, Online, Secure Hosting, Services, Web

Rackspace survey releases businesses struggling to understand the cloud

A new survey released by Rackspace has revealed that businesses are in danger of missing out on the cloud revolution because they don’t understand the concept. The findings show that more than half of UK (57%) and US (58%) businesses are unaware of the term cloud hosting.

Organisations’ varied responses when asked to define cloud hosting highlights the current confusion. Most UK businesses (43%) defined it as ‘remote and multiple servers accessed via the internet’. In the US this was also the most popular answer (29%). UK respondents also believed cloud hosting was ‘applications via the internet’ (31%), ‘virtualisation’ (14%) and ‘online storage’ (8%), with a similar pattern being found in the US. However 27% of UK businesses ‘don’t know how they would use cloud hosting as part of their IT mix’. A third of US businesses (33%) agreed with this statement.

Lew Moorman, chief strategy officer, Rackspace Hosting, said: “Cloud technology is ideal for the current economic climate, but it is vital that businesses understand how it can best serve their organisation. At Rackspace we want to provide clearer guidelines on how they can get the most out of this technology as a matter of urgency. That is why we are launching a new cloud clinic web site.”

“Cloud is going to be the hot business topic for 2009 and it is not just IT folk that will need to understand the benefits it brings but people across the business,” added Lew.

Despite the confusion over the definition of cloud hosting, 36% of businesses in the UK and 48% in the US are ‘planning or considering using it’. Reasons for not adopting the cloud in the UK were cited as: cost (25%); ‘untested, new technology’ (14%) and reliability (15%). In the US businesses are twice (20%) as concerned about security and compliance as they are in the UK (10%).

Other key findings from the research included: 15% of UK businesses would use cloud hosting as part of their IT mix for ‘extra servers/to boost processing and distribute workload’; 11% for data back up and 8% for application hosting.

Rackspace has set up a cloud clinic to help demystify the cloud by providing a range of cloud materials and case studies.

About Rackspace Hosting
As the world’s leader and specialist in hosting, Rackspace Hosting is changing the way businesses worldwide buy IT. Rackspace delivers computing-as-a-service, integrating the industry’s best technologies into a flexible service offering, making computing more reliable and affordable.

A trusted partner to companies of all sizes, Rackspace enables IT departments to be more effective. Rackspace is distinguished by its award-winning Fanatical Support, furthering the company’s mission to be one of the world’s greatest service companies.

Rackspace featured in the top 30 of both the Sunday Times 100 Best companies to work for list and the Financial Times Great Place to Work Awards, 2008. Rackspace’s portfolio of hosted services includes managed hosting, email hosting and cloud hosting.

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