Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.

Internet Daily for Monday, July 30, 2001
by Frank Barnako CBS MarketWatch.com

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Kmart drops free net access plan

Kmart and BlueLight.com announced Monday a new Internet service
plan offering unlimited nationwide access for $8.95 a month. A
free service offered by BlueLight.com, with 12 hours use a
month, will be discontinued at the end of August. The company
said the new plan will offer more local access numbers than
competitors, including America Online and NetZero. "We're doing
this because we wanted to give the consumer a freeway to Kmart
and to be able to alert shoppers to specials in the store and
online," said Dave Karraker, vice president of corporate
communications. BlueLight.com reported it has 7 million active
subscribers.

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Paid search engines pay off

Web search tools that sell placements and listings to sponsors
are succeeding for both advertisers and consumers, according to
Jupiter Media Metrix. Consumers are finding relevant listings
much faster on the sites, such as GoTo.com, while advertisers
are paying for leads on a per-click basis, the analysts
reported. "Most advertising sellers have faced a depressed
market and are reporting slow growth, but paid search engines
have experienced much better results," said Marissa Gluck,
senior analyst, Jupiter Media Metrix. "Their ability to succeed
has been driven largely by their efficiency for both consumers
and marketers."

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Yahoo evaluating pop-under ads

Pop-under ads may become common for visitors to Yahoo. The
company is testing the ad format for clients and is studying
whether to offer them to marketers on its network, according to
CNET. "The fact that Yahoo is running (the pop-under) is pretty
significant validation of its use," said Dave Gross of
Fastclick.com, a company that sells and serves the ad format.
Gross said he has 20 clients running the ads on as many as 4,000
sites. Researcher says pop-under ads don't work.

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Online spending slips

A softening economy has taken its toll on Web shopping. Total
U.S. spending on online sales decreased from $3.9 billion in May
to $3.2 billion in June, according to the most recent monthly
Online Retail Index reported by Forrester Research and
Greenfield Online. The number of households shopping online
dropped to 13.1 million in June from 14.8 million in May.
Consumers spent an average of $245 per person in June, compared
with $265 in May. This is the second month in a row that online
shopping has shown a decrease. Greenfield spokeswoman Gail
Janensch said seasonal factors could account for the decline.
School's out, people are wearing warm-weather clothing and they
may have already purchased airline tickets for their summer
vacations.

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Toys R Us, Amazon.com launch third site

Imaginarium.com was launched Monday through a joint effort
between Toys R Us and Amazon.com. It joins two other online
retail sites from the companies, Babiesrus.com and Toysrus.com.
Imaginarium.com sells toys and games and a Learning Values
feature helps parents match items with a child's skills and
interests. The co-branded store will operate under terms of a
10-year agreement announced in August by Toysrus.com, the group
that manages Imaginarium.com, and Amazon.com.

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