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For big companies due their processes and structure technology innovations are big steps. Smaller companies are more friendly to this changes and how it could be an advantage and strength.

Disruptive Innovation in a Web 2.0 World

By Singapore Entrepreneurs TLE

NOT ALL INNOVATION IS THE SAME

There’s sustainable innovation and then there’s disruptive innovation. This theory was first posited by another professor/student collaboration (this time from Harvard) in THE Innovator’s Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth. In it, Professor Clayton Christensen and Michael Raynor argue that incumbent companies are very innovative contrary to what most people would believe. The only problem is, because they have a huge customer base to protect, their innovations tend to run along a sustainable line. They encourage incremental improvements to their existing products or services as opposed to creating an entirely new line, especially one that could cannibalize their existing market.

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Any excuse is good to enjoy a nice lunch next to the beach. As always GREAT food. If you come to Barcelona book a table: Kaiku at Barcelonetas beach

By Enid Burns from the The ClickZ Network 

Switzerland dipped slightly in the number of active Internet users, according to data from Nielsen Online.

An increase in active Internet home users was reported in Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, the U.K., and the U.S.

Nielsen Online uses a sampling methodology applied worldwide, which allows for data aggregation on a regional and global basis. Active Internet users are derived from the number of users who have logged on in the previous 30 days.

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I must admit that I get lost with all these information and buzz. Who is buying who? how? for how many? when? now they are not? Surely it is a saga and we will have many chapters so let’s start with some of the latest info:

•  The Yahoo - Microsoft Saga
• Google, Yahoo Search News Mashup in Earnings Season
• Google, Our brain is just fine
• About Face(book): Microsoft Feels Out Social Network Acquisition
• Inside Microsoft’s War Against Google
• Microsoft-Yahoo: The Blogs Weigh In
• Microsoft Moves on Yahoo Special Report

Our IT manager Federico Montes will be part of this event leading one workshop.

More info at: http://phpbarcelona.org/agenda-provisional-de-la-barcelona-php-workshop

eBay users are really concerned about the new feedback system. Some radicals changes starting just in less than 10 days. An quite huge debate is around.

Again thanks to Ina Steiner from Auctionbytes that give us a description about this changes and the users reactions.

 Hang Tight, More eBay Feedback Changes Coming

Sellers could hardly believe their eyes when they read eBay’s January 29 manifesto announcing radical changes to the auction site, especially the news that, beginning in May, sellers would no longer be able to leave buyers negative or neutral feedback. eBay posted an update on Wednesday, giving sellers more details - and dropping another bombshell. eBay will no longer allow Mutual Feedback Withdrawal, a procedure that lets buyers and sellers withdraw their feedback ratings by mutual consent. In addition, sellers will no longer be able to use SquareTrade’s online dispute resolution service to aid in feedback removal.

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With more than 100 million accounts PayPal is the leading on-line payment gateway available. Everything related to their strategy and policy affect all  e-commerce users.

This in interesting interview with Scott Thompson, PayPal President, by Ina Steiner from Autionbytes.com. Discusses strategy, plans and the Safe Payments in Australia polemic decision.

Full interview 

Information provide by Ina Steiner  from AuctionBytes.com 

A recent NAA survey found that 33% of US auctioneers reported an increase in gross sales receipts during the first quarter of 2008, down from a 34% increase reported in the first quarter of 2007. Overall, there was a net increase in gross sales revenue for live auctions of 3.25% compared to the same quarter last year. The National Auctioneers Association (NAA) surveys its members each quarter and releases the results.Respondents were less optimistic than last year: in the first quarter of 2007, 62% of respondents reported that they believed they would see an increase in annual revenue, compared to 56% in first quarter of 2008.The rate of growth in residential real estate auction revenue in the first quarter of 2008 has decreased slightly compared to Q1 2007.

The NAA said if the current trend holds, the live auction industry will sell approximately $278.8 billion in goods and services in 2008, compared to $270.7 billion in 2007.

Many of us have doubts of which should be the best way to advertise, agencies, networks, etc. And probably the first problem is that it is not clear what are differences between their services and how they “work”. In this article Eric Picard, provided by The ClickZ Network, explain what is an Ad Network, how it works, etc.

There are three kinds of ad networks: rep firms, aggregators, and arbitrageurs. Today, I’ll focus on the second two; I have an issue with the way those two types of networks function within the advertising ecosystem.Ad networks, especially arbitrageurs, take advantage of market inefficiency and strip dollars out of the ecosystem.

Ad networks take between 20 and 60 percent of the ad dollars that flow through their hands. Dollars that, were they returned to the advertiser, would be spent on more media. Or that would be paid to the publisher for providing inventory to the advertiser.

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Interesting and basic info about business models on-line. 

Available at Inc.com By Crystal Dreisbach

A Web business based on product sales involves selling a physical, shippable product online. There are three main ways to sell products on the Web:

• Selling Products from a Web Site Storefront
• Selling Products on Auction Web Sites
• Gathering Products into an Online Mall

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