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In This Issue:
Don't Buy RealNames
We have received numerous
e-mails from people who are hearing
from other companies that suggest they've taken over the role that
RealNames used to have with Microsoft. The
RealNames system allowed typing keyword phrases directly into the
address block of Internet Explorer. Microsoft pulled their support for
this a number of months ago. Here is
such an e-mails:
"We have been
approached by [company name removed] to purchase keywords that would
go to our site when typed in the address bar. What do you know about
this? Is it legitimate, or will Microsoft stomp it out?"
There are
several companies that provide keyword navigation systems or
"namespace" services, just like RealNames did. For instance, Netword
is a long-time player in the space, many years old. Common Name is one
I've only recently heard of, but the company claims to have been
operating since 2000. iGetNet is a brand new company, launched in May
of this year.
Unlike
RealNames, none of these companies offers native integration of their
namespace services into Internet Explorer. In other words, when
RealNames was operational, anyone using Internet Explorer had access
to it. It was built into the browser. In contrast, the only people who
can use the namespaces offered by these other companies via Internet
Explorer are those relatively few who have installed special software
or "plug-ins."
Microsoft
ended its partnership with RealNames in May, and the RealNames system
formally closed down a month later. Since then, Microsoft has not
named another company to take the place of RealNames nor indicated any
immediate plans to resurrect a wide-range namespace system of its own
or through a third party.
There is
a new MSN Keywords system that will roll out with the MSN 8 Explorer
browser, expected to be made available later this month. Similar to
AOL Keywords, these are single words or
short phrases that work only for those within the new paid MSN
service. They will deliver people to particular pages that Microsoft
has selected, such as "news" leading to MSNBC. The terms are not sold,
limited in number and do not work in Internet Explorer, Microsoft
says.
In short,
any sales pitch suggesting that a namespace system is "built into" or
"native" to Internet Explorer is incorrect. A sales pitch that a
systems work with Internet Explorer is not wrong, but understand that
this is only true for the relatively few users that have installed the
necessary software.
Bugbear/Tanatos
E-mail Worm Detected
A
mass-mailing worm with keylogging and backdoor capabilities is
squirming in the wild and software security experts are warning of
possible hacker intrusions into infected systems.
The backdoor component allows an attacker to access an infected
system through a Web-based interface. The
worm generates HTML pages on-the-fly when an attacker browses
directories on an infected remote computer.
The worm has password stealing capabilities. It installs a keylogging
component to a system, records keystrokes and saves them into a file.
Then the worm sends this file to a few e-mail addresses that are
stored in encrypted form in the worm's body.
Free Directory Listing
You may add your
property to the
Lodging Guide World Wide for free.
Just click
HERE
to go to their registration page.
FAST Searches
for an Edge With Upgrades
Fast announced several new features
this month to its AllTheWeb search engine that supplies results to
Lycos and other major Web sites. Most notably, filters by region have
been added similar to the way Google and AltaVista filter data for
various countries and regions of the world. Mimicking Google, summary
descriptions for each page are now taken from a small section of the
page's text rather than from the meta description tag.
This makes it even more important to have high
quality content in the first and last 250 words of your homepage. This
is why we talk clients out of putting something like a mission
statement on their homepage. The homepage should be stressing what you
kind of site you are and how it will benefit the visitor.
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