LetsBuyIt Blog

Google has changed the name of its product search service from Froogle to Google Product Search. The company also simplified the Product Search user interface to be more consistent with the one on the main Google search page. Google launched Froogle in 2002, but removed the link to it from its home page last year.

“Froogle offers a lot of great functionality and has helped many users find things to buy over the years, but the name caused confusion for some because it doesn’t clearly describe what the product does,” wrote Marissa Mayer, Google vice president for search and user experience, and Jeff Bartelma, product manager for Google Product Search, on the company’s official blog.

We want YOU ! LetsBuyIt is currently looking for several technical guys. Positions are opened in Paris, France. So if you are interested in joining the new LetsBuyIt adventure, just go to the Jobs section of the French blog :

• France - Web Designer / HTML
• France - PHP / SQL Developers
• France - System & Network Engineer

Logoworks automates the design of logos, business cards, and stationery. Proprietary software helps Logoworks streamline the process and charge less than old-line competitors.

SpotRunner is a one-stop online shop for low-cost 30-second TV ads. Local businesses can browse a library of premade spots and personalize them for airing in their local markets.

JOOST! Forget the three-minute video blog. The 30-minute, broadcast-quality Web 2.0 TV show is coming in all its full-screen glory. And if serial disrupters Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom have their way, neither television nor the Internet will be the same.

How do you feel with these business model? Did you know them?

Adify is an online marketplace for highly targeted ads. Businesses can sell ad space directly to advertisers; advertisers can target specific market niches while Adify handles the back-office work.

JanRain has developed a single sign-on service for multiple passwords that lets people hop freely from site to site. Business demand for JanRain’s services is expected to grow as Web 2.0 entertainment and social-networking sites proliferate.

Rearden Commerce sells a Web-based “virtual personal assistant” application that smoothly integrates hotel and flight reservations, meetings, and other events into your daily agenda. Some 150 companies and 500,000 employees use Rearden’s software.

Will they be successfull in 2007?

More to come!

Companies may talk about embracing Web 2.0, but they’re slow to invest in blogs, wikis, and many of the other new collaborative technologies that are generating headlines. Instead, they’re putting their resources behind technologies that enable automation and networking, according to a McKinsey Global Survey, “How businesses are using Web 2.0.”

Read the complete article.

Meebo lets users manage multiple instant-messaging services from one site. Meebo’s killer app is a widget that places an IM window on your blog or webpage.

Metacafe’s service ranks uploaded videos by popularity and feedback from a community of 17 million monthly visitors - and pays the creators for the success of their work. The authors get $100 after 20,000 viewings and $5 for every 1,000 subsequent views. Since September, Metacafe has paid a total of $250,000 to 200 contributors.

SoonR! Access your home or office PC from your mobile phone. SoonR allows you to use your phone to pull up and search data on your desktop - everything from Word docs to Photoshop files.

You know them? Would you invest in these businesses?
More to come in the coming days!

We would like to highlight an article from the e-commerce Times.

“Because each customer has a different buying style, unique selection criteria, personal motivations and shopping approach, retailers must deliver a more dynamic experience to better accommodate customer preferences.”

“Most people spend 30 seconds, on average, on a product page, that time goes up when the product’s shown in 3-D. And sales rates are typically 18 to 20 percent higher just by providing an interactive experience.”

Read the complete article here.

What’s your opinion?

According to you what are the different web2.0 companies that we should watch in 2007?
In the coming days, we’ll put some interesting business on our blog, feel free to comment them!

Let’s start with these two:

Dabble has designed a tool for organizing videos into playlists of favorites. Users share them across the network, so, say, food lovers can dabble in one another’s video collections.

Slide has developed customizable and easily assembled slide shows of photos that can be embedded in a blog or a MySpace page, sent out in an RSS feed, and streamed to a desktop as a screensaver.

The old saying is wrong-winners do quit, and quitters do win.

Every new project (or job, or hobby, or company) starts out exciting and fun. Then it gets harder and less fun, until it hits a low point-really hard, and not much fun at all.

And then you find yourself asking if the goal is even worth the hassle. Maybe you’re in a Dip-a temporary setback that will get better if you keep pushing. But maybe it’s really a Cul-de-Sac, which will never get better, no matter how hard you try.

What really sets superstars apart from everyone else is the ability to escape dead ends quickly, while staying focused and motivated when it really counts.

Winners quit fast, quit often, and quit without guilt-until they commit to beating the right Dip for the right reasons. In fact, winners seek out the Dip. They realize that the bigger the barrier, the bigger the reward for getting past it. If you can become number one in your niche, you’ll get more than your fair share of profits, glory, and long-term security.

Losers, on the other hand, fall into two basic traps. Either they fail to stick out the Dip-they get to the moment of truth and then give up-or they never even find the right Dip to conquer.

Whether you’re a graphic designer, a sales rep, an athlete, or an aspiring CEO, this fun little book will help you figure out if you’re in a Dip that’s worthy of your time, effort, and talents. If you are, The Dip will inspire you to hang tough. If not, it will help you find the courage to quit-so you can be number one at something else.

This book will teach you how to ask the right questions.

Have you noticed that since the web2.0 concept and the fact that every websites is trying to create and develop a community, the content you can find on the internet is not as organized as it could be. How can you deal with the flow of information that is created by the users?

The Citizendium, a “citizens’ compendium of everything,” is an experimental new wiki project. The project, started by a founder of Wikipedia, aims to improve on that model by adding “gentle expert oversight” and requiring contributors to use their real names.

In other words, they are creating different levels for the contributors. Some of you can reach the “PowerUsers” status while other may just remain “simple contributor”.