InternetAd targeting based on ISP tracking now in doubt (AP)
AP - It sounded like a winning proposition free money for Internet access providers. By tracking their subscribers' personal Web surfing habits, they could help deliver ads targeted to the consumers' interests, and claim a share of the burgeoning online advertising market dominated by Internet search companies. But those efforts to sniff out consumers' interests are running into the ditch.
NEW YORK - It sounded like a winning proposition — free money — for Internet access providers. By tracking their subscribers' personal Web surfing habits, they could help deliver ads targeted to the consumers' interests, and claim a share of the burgeoning online advertising market dominated by Internet search companies. But those efforts to sniff out consumers' interests are running into the ditch. A slow-building privacy storm moved in on NebuAd Inc., the Silicon Valley startup that can facilitate the Web tracking. And its potential partners, the Internet service providers, failed to make the case that they should be in the ad business at all, rather than simply being the pipes that pass Internet traffic back and forth. One by one, cable and telephone companies that had conducted trials using NebuAd's ad-serving system have indefinitely suspended expansion plans. In interviews, executives at the Internet access providers blamed an unfavorable climate as Congress considers tightening federal oversight. "A bunch of them have dropped (NebuAd) like hot potatoes," said Gigi Sohn, president of the advocacy group Public Knowledge. Annmarie Sartor, a spokeswoman for broadband provider CenturyTel Inc., said the company was ready to proceed until "Congress started questioning privacy." "We were going to launch this summer," she said. "The trial from our viewpoint was successful." Bresnan Communications... [ Read more on www.yahoo.com ]
InternetGoogle takes aim at Microsoft with new Web browser (AP)
AP - Google Inc. is releasing its own Web browser in a long-anticipated move aimed at countering the dominance of Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer and ensuring easy access to its market-leading search engine.
InternetMicrosoft to drop $486 million for European shopping site (CNET)
CNET - Update at 5:58 a.m. PDT: Ciao is based in Munich, Germany. Greenfield Online is based in Wilton, Conn.