Anatomy of a Netscam: Why Your Internet Search May Not Be as Honest as You Think

[Elisabeth Roche]

>..."conventional advertising on the Web has yet to prove itself." -David Corn

I contend that banner ads *are* conventional advertising, akin to package
insert promotions which you find in your credit card billing statements,
electric bill, etc. You pay more for targeted market, pay less for entire zones.

Elisabeth Roche ace at opus1.com
serendipity RULES!

At 10:45 AM 7/8/96 -0700, Chuck Munson wrote:
>The following is being sent with permission of the author.
>--Chuck Munson (Univ. of Maryland College Park Libraries)
>
>-------------
>Anatomy of a Netscam
>Why Your Internet Search May Not Be as Honest as You Think
>
>By David Corn
>
>Sunday, July 7 1996; Page C05
> The Washington Post
>
>
>CAN YOU own a word? On the Internet you can.
>
>As the Internet expands, with an explosion of Web sites, cyber-entrepreneurs
>have tried mightily to figure out how to cash in. The problem has been that
>Web culture, so far, is antagonistic to charging money for information. Only a
>few information-providers -- mainly pornographers -- have been able to entice
>Web-scanners to pay for access, and conventional advertising on the Web has
>yet to prove itself. Consequently, corporations looking to squeeze profits out
>of travel on the information highway have been concocting creative schemes.
>And one of the more imaginative notions -- which relies on a pitch bordering
>on false advertising -- bodes ill for anyone who fears that the Net might
>become over-commercialized and that deep-pocketed parties might find ways to
>exert control over the as-of-yet unwieldy cyber-world.
>

snipped