URLs can change over time. If any of the sites used in these Internet Exercises change, please visit the Turban Electronic Commerce 2002, 2e Companion Web site at http://www.prenhall.com/turban for an update.

Chapter 5

1. Visit the chat room of Lotus Development Company (lotus.com), called Domino Chat, and describe its capabilities. Analyze the advertisement on this site. Also, check the chat room of 1-800-FLOWERS. Compare the two sites. Finally, find general information about chat rooms (for example, cws.internet.com). Prepare a report based on your findings.
   
   
2. Locate information about banner ads on the following sites and identify all of the benefits and issues related to Internet banner advertising. Prepare a report of your findings.
   • bcentral.com
   • coder.com
   • sharat.co.il/services/services.html
   • doubleclick.net
   
   
3. Enter the Web site of ipro.com and find what Internet traffic management, Web results, and auditing services are provided. What are the benefits of each service? Find at least one competitor in each category (such as netratings.com, observe their "demo"). Compare the services provided and prices.
   
   
4. Examine the status of the growth of Web advertisement. Surf the sites of iab.net, jup.com, forrester.com, and adage.com. Prepare a report and project the growth of Web advertising for the next 5 years.
   
   
5. Investigate the services provided in chat rooms. Start with talkcity.com and list its services. Why do some vendors provide free chat rooms? Examine yack.com. Why are their chat listings so popular?
   
   
6. Investigate the tools available for monitoring Web sites. What are the major capabilities provided? Start with Webarrange.com, Webtrends.com, and doubleclick.com.
   
   
7. Investigate the status of push technology by visiting companies such as backweb.com, marimba.com, netdelivery.com, verity.com, and myyahoo.com,.
   
   
8. Note: The e-catalog manager at saqqara.com no longer exists.
   
   
9. For a chance to win $25,000, or at least have fun, register with windough.com. Prepare a report on the success of the site in attracting the attention of surfers.
   
   
10. Enter hotwired.com and try to identify all the advertising methods used. Can you find those planned for targeted advertisement?
    
    
11. Enter micromass.com/mmctv/default.htm. Go to the auto online demo. Fill in the questionnaire and examine the customized ad generated by the "IntelliWeb." How well was the fit for you as a consumer? Also check the ad coder and healthcare demos.
    
    
12. Sign up with hvaa.com/guessthe.htm. Try to win a $50 U.S. savings bond by estimating the damage to a pictured car on the site. Use the hints provided.
    
    
13. Plan a contest and other promotions for your company or for a company with which you are familiar. Start with Webmagnet.com (be sure to read "Ideas For You").
    
    
14. Generate a banner for your company. Several vendors provide free banner generation software. Your mission is to create a banner using a vendor of your choice, such as coder.com or bcentral.com (click on instant banner and on banner creation). A good overview is provided at coder.com's "documentation" pages. Make use of the many options provided. Report on your experiences.
    
    
15. Enter myprospects.com. Go to messageblaster.com and use "try it" to send a message to yourself. You can use the tool to poll responses and for tracking.