Spotlight Features

It just makes sense that consumers tend to trust the opinions and recommendations of friends before they trust those of advertisers, promoters and retailers. Social shopping sites, which combine features of social networking with online sales, seek to capitalize on the sharing and trust that exist b...

Visual product configuration software is increasingly allowing consumers to design their own products, from shoes to tattoos, before purchasing them. The ability to design-before-you-buy gives consumers a sense of power and independence -- and it's also just a lot of fun. "People enjoy the build pro...

Shopping has traditionally involved an element of seeing, touching and feeling a product before buying. Shopping online, however, hasn't ever quite replicated that experience. That is, until now. With the advent of 3D technologies, online shopping is on the verge of a radical transformation. One ne...

Let's face it, texting is ubiquitous. A constant stream of information comes and goes through our phones. Harnessing the power of this medium to reach customers is the goal of a whole new breed of mobile marketers. "If you want to reach everyone, text messaging is the only way to do that," said Josh...

Marshall McLuhan's old adage, "the medium is the message," has never been more true than it is today. Companies wanting to showcase their cutting-edge products and services are increasingly turning to new and innovative marketing techniques that express the spirit of what they're selling. Video pres...

Somewhere in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., I just know the owner of a certain day spa is rubbing her hands with glee. You see, on New Year's Day morning, as I was blearily checking my emails, I clicked on one of the many group buying sites to which I subscribe and saw an offer I simply couldn't p...

Many firms are not properly prepared for the response to a daily deal offering. "These offers can be wonderful if they are analyzed correctly by the company," said Greg Sterling, principal of Sterling Market Intelligence. "If they are not, then it can easily be a disaster." The daily deal sites are ...

On a single day in March earlier this year, The Orange County Register's website generated $188,000, mainly by selling nearly 5,457 customers on its daily deal: a Catalina Flyer catamaran round-trip ticket for $34. A portion of the revenue was generated by a side deal. For an industry poised to reac...

Since few people bother to read Privacy Policies, Terms of Service or Click Wrap Agreements, is it any wonder that social media sites, search engines, and providers of cell services ask for and receive carte blanche rights to our whereabouts, along with other personal information? We all know that i...

Once upon a time there was an online group called "The Point." It was a nebulous organization with the vague goal of using the power of social media to to do such things as crowdsource a design for the Chicago Stadium or launch a petition. One day, one of its members got the bright idea to use its n...

Technology leaders in the White House have promoted greater use of cloud technology at the federal level almost from the start of the Obama presidency. The administration issued its strongest backing yet for cloud technology with last month's release of the "Federal Cloud Computing Strategy." Offici...

The allure of utilizing the latest advance in information technology -- cloud computing -- is that cloud applications will greatly increase efficiency and reduce IT costs. The U.S. government, which spends upwards of $80 billion per year on information technology, clearly presents a big opportunity...

The U.S. government is searching for ways to reduce the fog of bureaucracy to improve communication with citizens, and has turned to the cloud as a key strategy to achieve that goal. In addition to improving services to taxpayers, use of the cloud could save cash-strapped federal agencies millions o...

Government information technology procurement has been largely conducted on an independent basis, with each federal agency determining its own needs and acquiring the infrastructure -- both hardware and software -- to meet those needs. However, the procurement landscape may change significantly with...

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act -- enacted in the waning days of the 20th century -- contains provisions designed to make it evolve over time. The idea was that as technology fostered new ways of creating and distributing copyrighted material such as music, movies and software programs, the law...