Online Sales Jump 47% for Black Friday and Cyber Monday

The combined results of Black Friday and Cyber Monday for 2009 exceed sales from last year by 47% according to Retail Decisions. Black Friday performed better with $3.1 billion in sales which is an increase of 52%. Cyber Monday saw sales of $2.2 billion which is 35% better than last year. The good sales on Black Friday related to the heavy discounting that occurred on the day.

The top performing products online for the two day period included the TomTom GPS, Kodak Digital Cameras, Nintendo Wii, Ice Age 3, and Sony Digital Cameras. Some products popular as frauds included virtual gift cards, XBox 360, Nintendo Wii, and the Call of Duty XBox game.

FeelingFlu.com Sponsors H1N1 Online Chat

Medical Professionals will be providing straight forward answers to anyone that joins an online chat November 5th hosted by FeelingFlu.com. Dr Allan Greene will be answering questions during the “Get the Facts about Swine Flu” chat tomorrow. With many worried that they are unable to get the vaccine and still wanting to protect themselves and their families, this chat is designed to provide the answers.

Dr Greene, a pediatrician, wants to dispel the false rumors that have circulated on the Internet. From what causes the flu to how it spreads and the symptoms of the N1H1 virus. He plans to discuss who to protect yourself from the virus, what to do if someone in your family contracts the flu, and containing the spread of the flu; all during his chat on the 5th.

Promoting your Site with RSS Feeds

Getting readers for your blog is something that many are seeking to do now-a-days with blogging being so popular. One way to get consistent readers is through the use of an RSS feed. Readers subscript to your RSS feed and view the content through an external reader without having to visit your blog unless they want to read similar articles or comment on an article.

Google Reader is a very popular online RSS reader that many use today to group and read RSS feeds from all over the Internet. Google will also suggest additional RSS feeds to read based upon your current selection of feeds. If you want to have access to hundreds of articles a day on a certain topic without having to navigate to all those sites, RSS readers are an excellent time saver and information sharing mechanism.

Chitika Does Research on iPhone Users

Chitika is a popular online advertising network which just today released an advertising report on mobile vs online internet usage. What they found after analyzing close to 100 million ad click throws is that mobile users are less like by about 50% to visit an advertisement than individuals surfer the net on a personal computer or laptop.

One of the reasons for this difference in advertising interest may be the nature of the use of mobile devices. Smart phones are often used for doing quick searches while other forms of Internet usage encourage browsing and shopping. Another interesting point is the iPhone users are the least likely to click on ads. You can see the complete report here.

Cars.com Releases Their Best and Worst Cars of the Decade

Cars.com released today their list of worst cars of the 2000s and they also put together their most-improved car list for the same period. Great information for anyone looking to purchase a used car that wants to avoid buying a lemon or for anyone looking to purchase a new car that wants one of the best automobiles available.

The worst list starts with the Pontiac Aztec, all the Daewoos, and the Isuzu VehiCROSS. A surprise worst automobile is the Jaguar X-type which was a major disappointment for a fairly decent manufacturer. Jaguar moved into the lower end market and couldn’t produce a decent automobile. Topping the list of worst of 2000s is the SmartForTwo. Major complaints include the reduce passenger space, the manual transmission and dangerous roll-over possibilities. Take a look at both lists today for some really good entertainment.

MovieHatch.com Providing Production for One Screenplay

The website MovieHatch.com is beginning their first online competition to win a movie production deal according to a release today. Film makers and screenwriters are encourage to submit their material to MovieHatch.com prior to September 15th for consideration. Visitors of the site will then make selections of their favorite pieces. The top 10 will be judged by a panel of top industry experts with the winner going into production.

The company has secured the services of some of the industries top talent to judge the competition. There are three potential partners of the competition that will have the opportunity to bring the work to production at the conclusion.

FriendShopper.com Offers Widget called Shoplication

If you like shopping with friends and take advice from experts when making purchases then FriendShopper.com has a feature that could encourage additional buying for retailers that place a new widget on their sites. Shoplication allows retailers an interface for shoppers to share their product finds across a network of retailers.

The social widget allows shoppers to share their shopping ideals with others, mimicking the interaction of friends shopping in a mall. And according to research from Nielson, October 2007, 78% of respondents found recommendations from others more credible. Like Digg, but for shoppers, friends can share their shopping ideals in real time and show their interest in other’s ideals.

© ISMagazine.com – Not a paid advertisement.

Overstock.com Continues to give away $10,000 a Month

The June winner of Overstock.com’s Family Bailout contest was announced today according to a press release from the company. Dominique Dent will get $10,000 paid to one of his creditors of his choice. He is a customer of Overstock.com in addition to being a college student and a Katrina survivor.

Dent is planning to help his mother pay her bills and recover from their displacement due to the Katrina disaster. Over 250,000 people applied to win for the month of June by entering online. No purchase is required from the company to be entered into the sweepstakes. Many shoppers do opt-in during the check-out process.

eCompliments Holds a $10,000 YouTube Video Contest

People are being encouraged to create a video which compliments a person, a place, or a thing and submit to YouTube for eCompliments $10,000 video contest. You also should submit your entry to videocontest@ecompliments.com and once approved according to their rules, your video will join all others at http://videocontest.ecompliments.com and be voted on by viewers, the company announced in a recent press release.

TCM Classic Film Union

Turner Classic Movies has launched a first of it’s kind social networking site for fans of it’s classic movies. Those that love classic films and wish to share their passion with others can now go to www.tcm.com/fan and become a member of the network. Like most social networks you can have friend associations and share links in addition to writing about the films you love in a unique way.