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SWeCS NEWSLETTER - 22 August 2005

In this issue...

- Banner Advertising Through Google
- This Fortnight's Question
- Hoax Emails From SWeCS
- Spam Arrest Improved
- Resources For Small Business

BANNER ADVERTISING THROUGH GOOGLE

You've heard us talk many times about Pay Per Click advertising through Google (look out for some exciting news about this in the near future), but Google also does allow you to do banner advertising through their network, on a Pay Per Impression basis.

Pay Per Impression is exactly what it sounds like - you pay each time your banner appears (ie. an impression) on a website - or, more accurately, you pay per 1000 impressions. This kind of advertising is useful if you want to increase your brand awareness.

Banner advertising in Google works a bit differently to their normal Pay Per Click advertising. First of all, banners do not appear on the Google search engine. Instead, you specify which websites you want the banners to appear, choosing from thousands of websites around the world who show Google ads. You then specify an amount you are willing to pay per 1000 impressions (ie. 50 cents), and the ads are shown on the websites according to highest bidder first.

For example, if you own a weight loss centre, you can specify to have your logo appear on weight loss related sites (you get to pick the sites), paying a certain amount for 1000 impressions. The cost is the same, whether 1 or 1000 people click on your ad to visit your website.

Banner advertising through Google is part of our Pay Per Click Search Engine Management service, found at www.southwestecommerce.com/ppc.htm. Any questions let us know.

THIS FORTNIGHT'S QUESTION

This fortnight's question comes Julie:

"Can you put movies on webpages?"

Well, kind of. The problem with any kind of video on the Internet is the time it takes to download. In it's full version, every second of video can be 10MB or more, so when it goes on the Internet it needs to be heavily streamlined to reduce it's size, and that means loss of quality.

It's a challenge then to find a balance between quality and file size. The right balance depends on what you prefer most - quicker download speed or higher quality.

Got a question? Send it to us at admin@southwestecommerce.com and we'll do our best to answer it, as well as publish one every fortnight for everyone to see.

HOAX EMAILS FROM SWeCS

Some of you may have received emails recently, most with viruses attached, which look like they've come from an address at South West eCommerce Strategies.

We want to reassure you that these emails are not from our system. In fact, when you receive a virus email from someone, it is often not from who is says it's from. Many viruses now, when they replicate themselves, find an address in the person's address book, or completely make up a new address, and therefore pretend to be from someone else - all adding to the confusion they cause.

Our systems are clean and protected by the latest anti-virus systems. If you receive a junk email that says it's from us, it probably isn't. We certainly do not send any kind of spam, viruses, or junk email. If in doubt, please forward it to us to confirm.

SPAM ARREST SERVICE IMPROVED

A year or two ago we ran an article on Spam Arrest, which is a good way to prevent almost all spam reaching your Inbox.

We recently received an email from them outlining great improvements to their service, including:

- Improved Webmail and Address Book functionality
- Increased disk space - up to 1 GB
- Protection for up to 5 separate accounts, including AOL and Hotmail
- Anti-Virus and Anti-Fraud Protection
- Automatic whitelisting of anyone you send an email to.
- The ability to forward your email to another email address, or even to your PDA
- The ability to customize your outgoing verification message
- Domain Blocking/Authorizing
- Disposable email sub-addresses
- Out-of-Office auto-reply

They also still offer a 30 day free trial. You can find out more at www.spamarrest.com.

RESOURCES FOR SMALL BUSINESS

Ecommerce Library

Browse through the SWeCS Ecommerce Library, full of FREE information about getting more out of the Internet. Sections include Web Site Development, Web Site Promotion & Internet Marketing, Online Commerce, Computer & Technical Issues, and Miscellaneous.

Newsletter Archives

The SWeCS Newsletter archives provides a wealth of FREE information on small business and the Internet. Browse through the main topics or search for your particular query.

SWeCS Affiliate Program

Start up another income stream, by earning commissions for each referral who signs up for one of our services.

Affiliate Directory

Browse through a list of reviewed Affiliate programs. Let us do the work of testing it out for you!

Do you know of a resource that should be added here? Email us and let us know. There is only one condition - it must be free.

OTHER EMAIL NEWSLETTERS

Here's some other email newsletters you might like:

www.southwestlife.com.au

www.dunsboroughbayvillageresort.com/news/newsindex.htm

www.west-oz.com/newsletter/newsletter.asp

http://derekstockley.com/newsletters/news-index.html