12-01-2001

The Dark Underbelly of E-Commerce

Shopping on-line may save you a trip to the mall, but it can cause you headaches
as well. According to a survey of consumer protection agencies conducted by the
National Association of Consumer
Agency Administrators, the Internet for the first time ranks among the 10
biggest sources of consumer complaints. Internet-related complaints rose 62 percent
in 2000, the highest increase in any consumer category, according to the NACAA,
a Washington, D.C., organization that each year surveys consumer complaints in
conjunction with the Consumer Federation of America. Gripes about merchandise
ordered over the Web are the most common type of complaint reported by Internet
users, followed by complaints related to on-line auctions and Internet Service
Providers (ISPs). And speaking of ISPs, the NACAA now ranks them among the five
likeliest business entities to go out of business.

Mind Your Wandering Mouse or We'll Mind It for You

Internet smut peddlers and profanity purveyors — and their patrons — beware. AOL, MSN and Yahoo! , hosts to three of the most visited sites on the Web, have agreed to adopt a rating system that labels Internet content, giving individual users the ability to set Internet browser preferences or filtering software to control access to a given web site based on those labels.
Participation in the Internet Content Rating Association (ICRA) labeling system is voluntary. Content providers can go to the ICRA web site, complete a questionnaire about the online content of their own web site and request an ICRA label. Based on answers to the questionnaire, ICRA generates an appropriate label (a meta tag) to place on that web site — "Nudity and sexual content," Violence" and "Drugs, tobacco, alcohol" are among the possible tags. \

The Internet Underground

Subway riders in South Korea's largest city now have a new pastime: surfing the Internet. Beginning in December, subway passengers in Seoul will have access to high-speed Internet service via wireless signal boosters embedded in subway tunnels, Wireless World Forum reports. The pilot program initiated by Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit will run until March 2002, at which point a decision will be made whether to continue and expand the service.

Internet Taxation Update

President George W. Bush and the U.S. Congress have given on-line consumers an
early holiday gift: two more years of tax-free Internet shopping. Legislation
(H.R. 1552) signed by the President November 28 prohibits states from collecting
sales tax on such things as on-line purchases and fees consumers pay to Internet
service providers until at least October 2003, when the moratorium expires. As
reported in last month's NetCompass News, the previous moratorium on Internet
taxation expired October 21 of this year. Apparently undaunted by the new taxation
ban, states are continuing their quest to tap the Internet as a revenue source.
Groups such as the Streamlined
Sales Tax Project , with 33 member states (Colorado not among them), are working
to synchronize state tax collection practices and standards so that implementing
a system for taxing Internet transactions will be feasible when the latest moratorium
expires.

"IT" Day? An Update on Dean Kamen's Mystery Device

Last January NetCompass News covered Dean Kamen's rumored world-altering mystery
device known as "IT". According to Wired
Magazine, Good Morning America's Diane Sawyer has announced that the full-details
will be revealed on Monday, December 3rd, on ABC's early-morning telecast.\0

Total Site News

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\0\0\0What we've done for our clients lately:

Retiredcep.com, a secure e-commerce area accessible through the New York Stock Exchange's broker continuing education program web site, provides CD-based interactive study materials from previous years' broker-dealer tests. Total Site completed this job as a subcontractor for interactive training firm Knowledge, Incorporated. The site features an implementation of Microsoft's new XML-based security protocol.

The City of Lafayette Historic Preservation Board's web site is a section of Lafayette, Colorado's web site (a previous Total Site project). Funded by a grant from the State of Colorado, the site provides agendas and minutes for board meetings, an online application to be included in the historic register, and detailed information about Lafayette's historic sites. The Interactive Walking Tour, created using Macromedia's FLASH™ technology, uses XML technology to bring the city's history to life.

Total Site provided Sequel Venture Partners with an HTML e-mail invitation to their annual Holiday party. A full online RSVP system - including a map to the location - was linked through the e-mail. A Microsoft Excel spreadsheet summarizing guest information is sent to Sequel several times a week prior to the event.

Total Site recently began development of TotalBoulder.com for the W.W. Reynolds Companies. Leveraging content developed for the information-rich "Boulder Portal" which appeared in the previous incarnation of the WW Reynolds web site, TotalBoulder.com will feature a monthly HTML mail of upcoming Boulder events and a comprehensive Yahoo-like directory of Boulder links built in conjunction with Total Site's partner Link Voyager.
\0

Internet "Tea Leaves" — What Visitor Traffic Reports Reveal

One of Total Site's core service offerings is ongoing analysis of visitor activity at our clients' web sites. Our reports reveal many things about how visitors arrive at and use a web site.

Among the things traffic reports reveal* are the total number of unique visitors who have visited a web site, the search term they entered, the search engine which brought them there, and what pages they visited.

A combination of insight and traffic data can unearth new opportunities:

• An e-commerce client initially offered a small portion of their full catalog for online ordering. Visitor behavior reports revealed that the Adobe Acrobat™ version of their printed catalog was by far the most popular resource on their site. This suggested that there was an online audience for their full product mix. Since their full catalog became available for online ordering it has proven to be hugely successful.

• A large liquor store offered online coupons to web site visitors. Traffic reports revealed a unique pattern - there was a surge in visitors beginning at 3:00 P.M. each Friday. By making new coupons available each Friday morning coupon redemption doubled.

Increased web traffic directly corresponds to increased business opportunity. Our high-traffic sites have three things in common:

1) The sites are regularly updated with timely new information
2) The sites have a strong search engine presence
3) There is a concerted off-web (direct mail, newspaper, radio spot) effort to market the web address

* the linked sample reports offered here are from a recent period on our own web site: www.totalsite.com

The Dark Underbelly of E-Commerce

Shopping on-line may save you a trip to the mall, but it can cause you headaches \

The Internet Underground

Internet Taxation Update

President George W. Bush and the U.S. Congress have given on-line consumers an \

"IT" Day? An Update on Dean Kamen's Mystery Device

Last January NetCompass News covered Dean Kamen's rumored world-altering mystery \

Total Site News

\0<\0p\0 \0c\0l\0a\0s\0s\0=\0"\0b\0o\0d\0y\0"\0>\0W\0h\0a\0t\0 \0w\0e\0'\0v\0e\0 \0d\0o\0n\0e\0 \0f\0o\0r\0 \0o\0u\0r\0 \0c\0l\0i\0e\0n\0t\0s\0 \0l\0a\0t\0e\0l\0y\0:\0<\0/\0p\0>\0 \

Internet "Tea Leaves" — What Visitor Traffic Reports Reveal

One of Total Site's core service offerings is ongoing analysis of visitor activity at our clients' web sites. Our reports reveal many things about how visitors arrive at and use a web site. \

Mind Your Wandering Mouse or We'll Mind It for You

(12/01/01)