| Want to advertise your business online? Beware of click fraud
PORTLAND, Ore. - Click fraud has been called the dark side of online advertising, a type of Internet crime aimed at running up bills and cutting down the competition - one click at a time. Every time you use Google or Yahoo, there are always links at the top of the list for sponsored sites and they do not pop up there by mistake. Business owners pay for those links. It's called pay-per-click advertising and for many small businesses, it's a great way to attract new business. However, there is a down side. Scott Hendison used pay-per-click advertising for an insurance business. One day, he noticed his bill was increasing, but there was no increase in actual leads. Someone had been fraudulently clicking on his ad and running up his bill, with no intent on using his services.
Open-plan living leads to death of dining room
Dining rooms are dying out as more and more homeowners knock down walls to create bigger living areas, new research claims. More than half a million dining rooms in British homes are likely to be demolished over the next 12 months, according to Halifax Home Insurance. Its report predicts that if the trend continues, the traditional home of the formal dining table and best cutlery could disappear completely by 2020. .
Marlene & Boycie on Fools
IT has paid off her mortgage and given her kids the best education money can buy. But Only Fools has one downside for Sue Holderness. She can’t go anywhere in the WORLD without someone screeching Mar-leeeeene! Sue, who has played Marlene Boyce for more than 20 years, admits: The whole planet is obsessed with Only Fools. I just need to walk down the street and someone will scream ‘Mar-leeeeene’ at the top of their voice. Even people in Africa and Asia do it. I’ve even been in a caf in India — called Del Boy’s! — and had people come up to me and say, ‘Hello Marlene . . . cushty!’ Bubbly Sue says it gets worse if she is out and about with John Challis, 65 — who plays her screen hubby Aubrey Boycie Boyce.
Vassallo leads Virginia Tech past Florida State, 89-80
The blowout that almost got too close for comfort turned into a win-win for Virginia Tech: they managed to hold on, and learned a lesson. A.D. Vassallo scored 15 of his 22 points in the first half and Virginia Tech opened the game with an 18-4 run and kept mistake-prone Florida State well behind until the Seminoles got hot but came up short in the Hokies 89-80 victory Tuesday night. "We learned that we've got to stay down," freshman point guard Hank Thorns said. "We can't just relax when we've got a big lead. We've got to keep going at them." The Hokies (13-8, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), coming off a road victory at Boston College on Saturday, led 42-24 at the half and by no fewer than 11 for most of the second half before the Seminoles started making 3-points from all over.
New Deloitte Research Leading Index of Consumer Durables Spending ...
NEW YORK, Jan. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- The Deloitte Research Leading Index of Consumer Durables Spending, introduced last month and applied retroactively to prior periods, declined for the fourth consecutive month, providing strong indication of future weakness in consumer spending on durables. Based on retroactive analysis, the index would have accurately forecasted changes in personal consumption expenditures on durable goods 72 percent of the time between January 2004 and July 2007 (31 months out of 43 months). This index is a complement to the Deloitte Research Leading Index of Consumer Spending, which tracks consumer cash flow as an indicator of future consumer spending. "The index turned negative in September of 2007 and has declined ever since, with an especially steep decline in December," said Ira Kalish, director, global economics and consumer business, of Deloitte Services LP's ("Deloitte") Deloitte Research, and author of the monthly index.
Canucks walk tightrope as they battle for playoff spot in NHL's final ...
The Canucks are waiting to get some of their best players back from injury. On defence, Willie Mitchell is out indefinitely with a fractured vertebrae in his back while Lukas Krajicek is nursing a sore shoulder but could return during the road trip. Fellow blue-liner Kevin Bieksa, sidelined since Nov. 1 with a lacerated calf, is expected to skate for the first time Friday. Centre Brendan Morrison, out since Dec. 12 after undergoing wrist surgery, is expected to return before the playoffs. Linden said the stress of holding onto a playoff spot is offset by the fact the season is moving into its final quarter. "It's probably less of a grind now," he said. "You can get focused in. The dog days are going to be behind us soon. "There is a stretch in the middle where you can't really see the end and the start was a long time ago.
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