Technology Mashup

Developments in Online Advertising

By Steve Nimmons

Online advertising has been with us since the earliest days of the Internet and where ‘eyeballs meet content’ advertisers will always be close by. We have travelled an immense distance in the last 15 years. The first Web portals were (almost uniformly and tastelessly) bedecked with every imaginable flashing widget that might attract a valuable click-through. I will spare the early designers blushes but some sites would today come with health warnings for photosensitive epilepsy.

My hat goes off the to hauliers engaged in the latest protests. The price of oil is perhaps a little out of immediate control, but Alistair Darling needs to look at tax cuts to help seed more disposable income back into the UK economy. Falling house prices, rising fuel and food prices, and Labour's answer - more tax! Time for a change!

Schlumberger buys IES - Schlumberger, the oilfield and information services company, has acquired Integrated Exploration Systems (IES), the Germany-based supplier of advanced petroleum systems modelling software and services for the exploration and production industry

[News from The Engineer]

UK economic outlook 'worsening' - Economic prospects for the next 18 months have got worse, the British Chambers of Commerce warns. [BBC Business News]

IBM Reports 2008 First-Quarter Results - IBM today announced first- quarter 2008 diluted earnings of $1.65 per share from continuing operations compared with diluted earnings of $1.21 per share in the first quarter of 2007, an increase of 36 percent as reported. First- quarter income from continuing operations was $2.3 billion compared with $1.8 billion in the first quarter of 2007, an increase of 26 percent.

Stocks surge on Citi, Google - Stocks rallied Friday morning as investors welcomed upbeat earnings from Google and Caterpillar and breathed a sigh of relief that Citigroup's poor results at least included higher-than-expected revenue.

Darling 'optimistic' on economy - The chancellor stands by his growth forecasts for 2008 and 2009 despite a downgrade by the IMF. [BBC Business News]

House prices 'see sharp decline' - House prices fell by 2.5% in March, the biggest monthly decline since September 1992, says the Halifax. [BBC Business News]

UK bank details 'for sale for £5' - So-called cyber-crime supermarkets are selling UK bank account details for as little as £5, a report says. [BBC UK Technology News]

Case Study: Architecting SOA Solutions for Changing Economic Environments - Redpaper, published: Mon, 31 Mar 2008

The agility and flexibility of SOA solutions make them suitable to virtually any economic environment.

How to crack the credit crunch - Financial reformers have a chance to give stressed-out markets a desperately needed reality check.

[Wall Street Market News]

Greener buses - Nottingham City Council is set to trial ethanol-powered buses following an investment from the East Midlands Development Agency. [News from The Engineer]

Leading South American Telecom Company Selects
IBM For IT Services - IBM and Telefónica Argentina, Chile, Colombia y Perú, a leading private company in the global telecommunications market, today announced they have extended their information technology (IT) services contract. [IBM Newsroom]

'Stranglehold' on science funding - Science and innovation is being stifled by the government, says shadow chancellor George Osborne. [BBC Science News]

IBM: Watchtower Completes the Recommended Cash Offer to the Shareholders in Telelogic - This Offer is not being made nor will any tender of shares be accepted from or on behalf of holders in any jurisdiction in which the making of the Offer or the acceptance of any tender of shares therein would not be made in compliance with laws of such jurisdiction. The Offer is not being made, directly or indirectly, in or into Australia, Canada, Japan or South Africa.