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When a searcher types a word into Google or Yahoo, organic and paid results populate the return screen. Because competition for top rankings in search results is steadily increasing, business-to-business marketers are challenged to develop ever more sophisticated search strategies. FedEx, for instance, is comprised of a worldwide network of companies that operate under the brand umbrella. “FedEx has taken the same approach to brand and category search words,” says Steve Pacheco, director of FedEx advertising. All paid search activities are consolidated.

Was Arlo Guthrie right? Do 50 people a day walking into an organization, singing a protest song, and then walking out again make a movement? I sure hope so, for I’m feeling a revolutionary itch, and I need to scratch it. A while back, I detailed how my former bank had, through some really awful customer service, pushed me into the rather comfortable arms of one of its competitors. Readers responded not only with similar tales from their own banks, but added stories about cable companies and other lack-of-service providers.

A maker of Apple Computer’s iconic iPod said Thursday it has cut its demand for defamation damages over a report it mistreated its workers to a symbolic 1 yuan, which amounts to 12 US cents, following a wave of bad publicity. Hongfujin Precision Industry said it was reducing its demands for damages from a pair of Chinese journalists from about $3.8 million “to avoid blurring the issue because of the great public attention on the target of the injunction.”

Oracle has released PeopleSoft Enterprise Performance Management 9, an integrated suite of analytic applications that is part of Oracle’s PeopleSoft Enterprise 9 suite. New features include expanded enterprise planning and compliance management capabilities and new industry functionality in the higher education vertical. Targeted at the JD Edwards and PeopleSoft installed bases, the application is also notable in that it is one of the first Oracle products to use Fusion analytics as a baseline for the data model.

Images are good e-commerce business tools

People like to look at what they are buying. If you sell various products on your e-commerce Web site, including images of them can help you better connect with customers and make more e-commerce sales. Posting pictures and product descriptions can help customers decide on buying from you, since they know what the product looks like and what it does. You can make it even more interesting by offering thumbnail images that they can click on to see another view of your e-commerce product.

See Also

• E-commerce Tools
  Business tools to grow your e-commerce sales

Companies that seek to automate the customer service process to cut costs often alienate customers instead, as Part 1 of this two-part series reveals. Some companies, though, are finding ways to incorporate informed, personal interactions into their customer service programs, and are treating every question a customer poses as a chance to build sales and customer loyalty. Even seemingly mundane queries are opportunities for customer retention.

Computer hackers stole the credit card information and some personal data of approximately 19,000 customers who purchased DSL equipment via AT&T’s online store. Subscribers to its service, though, were not affected. The company is offering credit monitoring services to customers who were affected by the security breach, which is currently under investigation by authorities.

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