Software - Internet Marketing News and Blogs

PHP is installed on more than 20m websites, including some of the most popular websites in the world.

It's easy to install, easy to work with and when put in the hands of a competent developer can achieve the performance and scalability that highly-popular websites and demanding web applications require.

Another survey reveals that many companies are failing to follow email best practice, with 60% of firms missing a trick by not sending welcome messages to subscribers.

According to a new study by ReturnPath, 30% of these companies compounded the problem by failing to make contact with customers for more than a month after they signed up.

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

The Ordnance Survey’s long-awaited API has moved a step closer to launch, with the organisation preparing to announce an alpha release later today.

The 'OpenSpace' platform has been in the pipeline for at least a couple of years and will reportedly now be fully unveiled sometime in 2008. 

New research suggests that trust in online retail is improving, though 24% of shoppers still have concerns over the issue. 

According to the IMRG’s E-Customer Service Index, confidence in e-commerce security has risen 2% over the past three months to 76%.

Google has thrown down the gauntlet to Facebook with plans to compete with the social network’s hugely popular software development platform.

The devilishly cunning but widely expected move - coming just a few days after Facebook’s strategic partnership with Microsoft - will see the online ad giant allowing developers to build apps and syndicate them across different social media sites.

Google is apparently looking to tap into the Facebook widget ‘phenomenon’ by serving Adsense ads on third-party applications created for the site.

Steve Rubel has linked to an article in AdAge that quotes Google CEO Eric Schmidt as saying:

“How will those developers get paid for those services? We would like to have our ads in those applications.”

Ruby on Rails creator David Heinemeier Hansson - named Hacker of the Year in 2005 - talks about the web development framework's growing popularity among businesses (including E-consultancy - we have a new Rails-powered site under development) and the problems of managing an open source community. 

Asda parent Wal-Mart is back in the social networking game after various high-profile mishaps – this time with a sponsored Facebook group for students.

Reuters reports that the retailing giant is inviting college-goers to design their dorm rooms on its page, before recommending products that fit in with their decorating style.

James at GigaOm has written a post today in which he predicts that Microsoft's Xbox is doomed, mainly as a result of the Wii's success and the various 'red ring of death' issues which have affected many of the consoles.

However, we reckon James is being a little hasty in his judgement, and is not seeing the bigger picture.

While the failure rate of Xbox consoles - as much as 33% by some estimates - is hardly a great advert for the Xbox, it hasn't been enough to dent the console's popularity beyond repair, and Microsoft has built up an enviable position, both in terms of market share and in securing an installed base of millions for future multmedia plays.