The Dawn of Information Markets

The Dawn of Information Markets

"The stillbirth of Vice Admiral John M. Poindexter's proposal for a market in terrorism futures could have a chilling effect on one of the Internet's most important potentials -- the use of information markets to aggregate and codify distributed intelligence.

Historically, most markets have been created to make money with information as a byproduct. In large part enabled by the Internet, markets in recent years have been created for the express purpose of ferreting out and organizing information.

The best known is the Iowa Electronic Markets at the University of Iowa, especially its Presidential Election Vote-Share Market. Since its inception in 1988, this pre-Internet information market has successfully predicted the outcome of every U.S. presidential election. It's more accurate than traditional polling techniques in predicting the outcome of U.S. and foreign elections, primaries, and other political events. In fact, in tight elections, professional bond traders, who often have millions of dollars riding on post-election economic policies, monitor the Iowa political stock market as a leading indicator."

How to Budget for Internet Advertising

How to Budget for Internet Advertising

"A persistent challenge in this business is determining how much money our clients should allocate to this medium. Given online's relative youth, it has no established standards and practices, like our colleagues on the traditional side enjoy. That shouldn't stop us from thinking critically and creatively about counseling clients on appropriate spending levels.

I'll cover planning inputs important to smart budget decisions below. But first, here's a more unrefined, straightforward approach that will suffice if absolutely necessary."

Brand Building on the Internet

Brand Building on the Internet


Web sites for packaged foods and drinks make unlikely candidates for popular online destinations, since consumers cannot buy anything on the site and may not need much guidance on how to pour Planters Peanuts into their mouths or Ragu sauce onto their pasta.


But consumer packaged foods companies are drawing many more customers to their Web sites than in the past. And analysts say the sites are keeping those visitors in place long enough to etch their logos in the consumers' consciousness, to 'brand' them, in packaged foods parlance. Certainly, the image of Mr. Peanut in a barbecue apron, using a Weber grill, makes at least a partial impression (www.candystand.com/planters/grill")

Wired News: Commerce Drives Virtual World

"About once a week, Michelle Valentine visits a favorite online auction site and either places a bid or puts something up for sale. But she's not visiting eBay. In fact, she's not even dealing in physical goods.

Valentine is a regular user of the auction feature in There Inc.'s online virtual world, or 'metaverse.' The feature helps thousands of There members move all manner of virtual goods they've created and is a prime driver in the development of a new and exploding economy."

Online Dating -- for Brands

Online Dating -- for Brands

"....What's this got to do with online branding? Brand alliances, as we know them, are in the midst of an interesting change. Some years ago, most brand builders would have been aghast at the thought of their brands being seen alongside other brands. Brands should be perceived in exclusivity, they believed. That theory is no longer applicable. It's impossible to be the best in each and every way. That's why complementary companies need each other. Brand builders must identify the best companies within fields/disciplines/product categories that are complementary to their own and team up with them."

Marketing the eBay Way

A couple years ago, eBay stopped being the place to sell your unwanted trinkets and started being the place to sell anything. Looking for a $169,000 Ferrari 550? Someone's selling one right now on eBay. Want to buy a single-engine Cessna airplane, sight unseen? Yours for $28,000. Think you'd make a great NASCAR columnist for FOX Sports? For a bid of about $300, you can write for the network.


Yes, FOX Sports has run several auctions on eBay, offering the opportunity to write a column for its Web site about an upcoming NASCAR race (the most recent auction is here The more I thought about it, the more intrigued I became.

"From the WSJ - no, not the Wall Street Journal, but the Wisconsin State Journal - we find an article about the growing trend for local municipalities to take on the job of supplying broadband, often via a wireless link. Private companies are increasingly upset with the fact that they're competing with publicly funded organizations, but in many cases, private companies are slow to offer such services to rural communities, and having public utilities come in is the only way they're going to get access in a reasonable time-frame. Some states are looking at banning municipal utility firms from offering broadband, and the article points out that it's a situation that is likely to end up before the Supreme Court in the near future. While I can understand both sides of the issue, it seems like it should be up to the taxpayers. If they're willing to have their tax dollars go towards supplying broadband, then let it go. However, if they would prefer their tax dollars be spent elsewhere (or not at all), then let them vote in favor of that"