Financial Services - Internet Marketing News and Blogs

Recent reported accessibility problems with American Express' web statements exemplify a common challenge for financial service websites and those reliant on PDFs.

James Beriker is the president and CEO of search technology and marketing group Efficient Frontier.

In a turbulent few weeks for the industry, we asked him about Google’s recent share dive, the prospective Microsoft-Yahoo merger and the agency’s plans to expand into new areas like display advertising, localised search and emerging economies.

Thomson Financial believes Google will generate an astonishing $21.31 billion in mobile advertising revenues in 2009. I don’t. Moreover, I think Google is going to have a hard time migrating Adwords to mobile.

We're all Northern Rock 'shareholders' now, thanks to its nationalisation earlier this week.

So we've done our bit and had a look at its website for some suggested improvements...

With 18% of internet users still thinking it's too risky to shop on the web (source: GetSafeOnline), it’s clear that there's a big opportunity out there if etailers can persuade these wily refuseniks that e-commerce is safe.

One thing that might help them is PayOffline - a system launched in August last year that enables consumers to shop online but pay for their goods at one of 17,000 physical locations around the UK.

Second Life has announced a ban on virtual banking in the 3D online world in a bid to prevent the “destabilisation” of its economy.

Linden Lab, the virtual world’s creator, said it had been forced to intervene after receiving complaints about a string of dodgy in-world financial offerings that promised unfeasibly high interest rates for investors.

Dela Quist looks at why 40% of subscribers to an email database may not open a single message they are sent for six months or more.

He says this is not necessarily a bad thing as they are ‘unemotionally subscribed’ – they still want to receive messages from you but are not in a position to take up your offer today.

P2P lending site Zopa is set to launch in the US this week, where it will compete with firms like Prosper and CircleLending, recently rebranded as Virgin Money USA.

Zopa's US version will differ from its UK site as investors will have their funds 'federally insured', instead of spreading their risk by loaning small amounts to multiple borrowers. 

This guarantee, the firm hopes, will allow it to attract capital quickly as it is not something competing P2P sites currently offer.

Twenty five per cent of financial firms' websites present product information in an unclear or misleading way, according to a review by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

The study found that several sites were difficult to navigate and often failed to display key information.

Brands that are adopted by phishers to hoodwink web users can have their reputation seriously damaged, according to a new study by YouGov.

Yet web users don’t point the finger at companies when it comes to protecting consumers against such attacks.