A slightly unfortunate Twitter billboard

Sometimes ingenuity doesn't quite lead you to a comfortable place.

The enterprising folks at WPMI TV in Mobile, Ala., decided that they should reach out on a real-time basis to their viewers. They erected a billboard, adorned it with an image of three of its most photogenic anchors, and added a live Twitter feed.

The whole thing ran very smoothly, until a passing human took this photograph and sent it in to The Palmetto Scoop.

(Credit: The Palmetto Scoop via Mashable)

Perhaps one's first reaction would be that this image might have enjoyed a little concoction.

However, Mashable has confirmed that not only is it real, but, citing the Lagniappe blog, it says WPMI-TV's general manager and news director have allegedly been suspended for a week because of this unfortunate conflagration.

This all seems just slightly odd. Television and radio has always been fond of slipping in a seven-second delay just in case untoward syllables slip through the mouths of guests or, indeed, hosts. It seems that no such delay was considered for this Twitter feed.

Yet who might have imagined such an unhappy coincidence might have occurred?

iPhone officially lands in South Korea

A month after Apple started selling its iPhone in China, the device expanded its Asian reach Saturday with a much-heralded launch in South Korea.

In keeping with the tradition of waiting in line for hours in advance of an iPhone launch, hundreds queued up overnight outside the Olympic stadium in Seoul to snag the smartphone as soon as it officially landed amid blaring music and strobe lights. The hoopla appeared to far trump the phone's more subdued arrival in China, where it launched in the October cold and rain to smaller-than-expected crowds.

(Credit: Apple)

KT Corp, South Korea's second largest mobile carrier (after SK Telecom) and the local distributor of the iPhone, says about 65,000 people have preordered the device, which hit the South Korean market two months after the government approved its sale.

Mobile penetration in South Korea is high--an estimated 93 percent of the country's population subscribes to a mobile service--but smartphones have yet to take off there due to cost, lack of apps, and high data rates by mobile carriers.

"We're hoping that this iPhone will be a trigger point for the smartphone market in Korea," said Yang Hyun-mi, chief strategy officer at KT Corp, according to the Canadian Press. Smartphones make up just 1 percent of all cell phones in South Korea, she said.

KT is pricing the 32GB iPhone 3GS at 396,000 won ($338) for customers who subscribe with a monthly service fee of 45,000 won (about $38). Customers who subscribe with a monthly fee of 65,000 won ($55) can get the phone for 264,000 won ($225). And premium users who sign up for monthly plans based on a 132,000 won ($113) basic rate can get the phone for free.

An 8GB iPhone, meanwhile, can be had for 132,000 won for subscribers signed on the 45,000 won monthly plans.

KT projects that iPhone sales will fall anywhere 200,000 to 500,000 units, a showing that's widely expected to shake up the country's mobile market. For years, the Korea Communications Commission used technical rules to stifle competition, allowing homegrown giants like Samsung and LG Electronics to take over the market, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Indeed, in good news for cost-conscious consumers, Samsung has already slashed the price of its 8GB Omnia 2 smartphone by 44,000 won ($37.50) to 924,000 won ($788).

Watch a South Korean iPhone television spot below.

Click away: Holiday Web shopping bounces back

I don't get "Black Friday," and I don't get the people who actually spend Black Friday at the mall. (Also, when did "doorbuster" become part of the argot? I missed the memo on that one). I do get the people who do their holiday shopping online, though, and there are more of them every day.

Here are the latest numbers from ComScore, which says that online holiday shopping is up a bit this year. That's not saying a lot, since last year's sales were soft. But for the record, sales are up 3 percent so far, and Web sales were up 11 percent on Black Friday.

(Credit: ComScore)

But note that consumers say they're spending less overall than they did less year: they told interviewers they intend to spend 8 percent less than they did in 2008.

Not surprisingly, people spent a whole lot of time on the Web's most popular retail sites on Friday: Traffic at Amazon, Wal-Mart, Apple, Target, and Best Buy, sites were all up, ComScore reports.

Next up: Dutiful reporting on "Cyber Monday," tomorrow's artificial construct. Still, I'm not complaining. This is way better than trudging out to the mall for the annual "interview of shoppers in a parking lot" piece that newspapers still insist on assigning.

Tips for safe online shopping

Shopping online does carry some risk, but so does shopping at brick-and-mortar stores. At least online shoppers don't need to worry about fender-benders in the parking lot, pick pockets at the mall, or getting the flu from all those fellow shoppers.

But the nice thing about shopping online is that by following some basic guidelines you can be reasonably sure you'll have a safe experience.

Secure your PC: The first thing you need to do is be sure your computer is secure. Trend Micro's education director David Perry, says that "bad guys these days are operating by planting a keylogger on your system that listens in, surreptitiously waiting for you to use your credit card or your bank password so that they can steal your money." So, even if you're dealing with a legitimate merchant, you're at risk if your computer is infected. Your best protection from these attacks is to keep your operating system and browsers updated and use a good and up-to-date security program. If you're getting or giving a Netbook or other PC for the holidays, make sure that security software is installed right away. Most security companies offer a free-trial version that will tide you over for a month or so, but be sure to subscribe so you get ongoing protection.

Click with care: You're going to be getting a lot of offers via e-mail this holiday season. While they might be legitimate, there is the possibility of some offers coming from criminals trying to trick you into giving your password to a rogue site or visiting a site that can put malicious software on your computer. Your best protection is to not click on any links--even if the message looks legitimate--but to type in the merchant's URL manually.

Know the merchant: : If you're not familiar with the merchant, do a little research like typing its name (and perhaps the word "scam") into a search engine to see if there are any reports of scams. Look for user reviews on sites likeEopinions.com. Look for seller ratings if you locate the merchant through a shopping search engine like Google Shopping . Google doesn't certify the integrity of the sites that come up in its searches, but if you see lots of seller ratings that are mostly positive, that's a pretty good sign. You're generally pretty safe with sellers that are affiliated with shopping aggregators like Amazon.com, Yahoo Shopping, Retrevo or BizRate. Microsoft's new Bing search engine offers a cash-back program with affiliated merchants.

Look for trust seals, but verify they're legitimate

(Credit: BBBOnline)

It's a good idea to look for seals of approval from Truste or Better Business Bureau Online, but remember that a seal is only a graphic. It can be counterfeit. To be sure, visit the certifying agency's site to look up the merchant.

When you're about to enter your credit card, make sure you're on a "secure "site. The URL should have an https at the beginning (s for "security") and there should be a small gold lock in the lower right corner of the browser. This isn't an iron-clad guarantee, but still worth looking for.

If you're still not sure, look for a phone number and call them. Aside from eliminating the chance of a keylogger grabbing your information, you may get a little more assurance talking to a human being.

Pay by credit card: Credit cards offer you an extra level of protection including the right to "charge back" if you feel you're a victim of fraud. The credit company will investigate your claim and permanently remove the charge if fraud can be proven.

Also some credit card companies offer extra protections including extended warranties and protection against loss or theft. Federal law limits your liability for misuse of a credit card to $50 but many credit card companies will waive that limit. Unless you're very sure about the merchant, don't provide them with a checking account number and never disclose your social security number to online merchants.

It's also a good idea to check your online credit card statement frequently. Most credit card companies will display recent charges online within a few days of the actual transaction. While you're on your credit card company's site, check your interest rate. Credit card companies have been known to "adjust" rates (usually upward) for a variety of reasons.

Know the real price: Be sure you understand the actual cost of the item, including shipping, handling, and sales tax. That can have an enormous impact on the final price. Many merchants are offering free shipping during the holidays and some merchants that have both online physical stores will let you pick up the item in the store for free. In most states if you do business with a merchant that has a physical presence in your state, the merchant is required to collect state sales taxes. Although it's tough to enforce, some states expect you to self-report all of your online purchases and pay sales taxes when you file your state income tax return.

Happy returns: Be sure you understand the merchant's return policies including the deadline for returns and what documentation you'll need. In most cases, they won't refund the shipping charges and you'll have to pay to ship it back. Always keep your packing until you're sure you're not going to return it.

Read the privacy policy: The policy, according to the American Bar Association's Safeshopping.org, should disclose "what information the seller is gathering about you, how the seller will use this information; and whether and how you can "opt out" of these practices."

Enjoy the holidays: By paying attention to these tips, the odds of your being victimized by online fraud are pretty low --another good reason to be cheerful during the holiday season.

Buying, selling, and Twittering all the way

Once upon a time, people mailed their holiday wishes to the North Pole and hoped for a reply on Christmas Day. Nowadays they are sending their wishes into cyberspace and are apt to get a reply in minutes.

America's first Twitter Christmas got under way in earnest on Friday. Across the land, retailers and their customers used the social-networking site to talk to one another about bargains, problems, purchases, and shopping strategies.

After buying a new navigation system at 6 a.m. on the most frenzied shopping day of the year, Laura Kern of Los Angeles could not figure out why it was not giving her traffic updates. She sent a message to Best Buy's Twitter account and within five minutes not one, but two Best Buy employees responded with fix-it advice.

In Bloomington, Minn., Mall of America used its Twitter page to tell consumers two of its parking areas were at capacity and that their best bet was to park near Ikea.

Twitter permits public communication via short, to-the-point messages. Many people use it to send mundane updates to their friends, but increasingly, the nation's retailers see it as a business tool.

It gives customers a practical way to cajole a retailer, complain about something or ask questions.

A Twitter post can in theory be seen by millions, and thus packs more punch than an e-mail message or a phone call to a store. The big retailers are all scrambling this Christmas to come up with Twitter plans. They are designating tech-savvy employees to respond to the posts, sometimes by providing up-to-minute inventory information from a sales floor, for example, or by offering help with some balky gadget.

"It's one of the greatest emerging communication channels out there," said Greg Ahearn, senior vice president of marketing and e-commerce for Toys "R" Us. "This is a way people can stay connected with the brand in a way they've never been able to before."

So far this shopping weekend, special deals have been posted on Twitter from stores as varied as Best Buy, J.C. Penney, Toys "R" Us, Staples, Gap, Bloomingdale's, and Barneys.

For the uninitiated, Twitter.com is a Web site where each member has a password-protected page. It has a blank box for typing in a message of 140 characters or fewer, an act known as tweeting.

To see a retailer's messages, Twitter users "follow" the retailer, which means that the chain's posts show up on their Twitter home page when they log in. And the system allows users to send messages in the other direction, so that a retailer's employees will see them.

"I think in this economy you need to leverage every asset that you have," said James Fielding, president of Disney Stores Worldwide, who sends messages under the Twitter name, or handle, DisneyStorePrez.

On Friday morning, as consumers flooded Disney stores around the country, Fielding messaged: "We have amazing ONE DAY ONLY deals previewing on our Facebook page--become a fan today and find out more!"

Retailers hope that if they send Twitter messages, consumers will come. About 47 percent of retailers said they would increase their use of social media this holiday season, according to a study by Shop.org, part of the National Retail Federation, an industry group. And more than half of retailers said they added or improved their Facebook and Twitter pages. There are advantages for consumers too, like discounts. For instance, those who decided to follow Gap Outlet received an offer for 15 percent off purchases of $75 or more.

As shoppers jammed the aisles on Friday at a Best Buy store in Arlington Heights, Ill., an employee, Jerry DeFrancisco, went up to a computer kiosk and used his Twitter account to tell customers about Best Buy's home theater deals. Then he resumed his in-store duties, helping a customer decipher a sales circular.

A few months ago, Best Buy began piloting a Twelpforce--a Twitter-inspired play on "help force"--of some 2,500 employees that answer consumers' questions in real time.

"It's 24-hour access to our employees," said Brad Smith, director of interactive marketing and emerging media for Best Buy. The Twelpforce had fielded about 25,000 questions even before gearing up for Thanksgiving weekend.

Kern in Los Angeles used the service on Friday. After she could not get her new navigation system to work, she tried Best Buy's telephone support line, only to receive a warning that her wait would be an hour. So she posted on Twitter instead, and within minutes, Best Buy employees were sending her useful links and details about her gadget. "It's amazing," she said later in the day. (Her interaction with the employees ultimately helped her realize she would need to go back to the store for help.)

Many retailers will be posting to their Twitter pages throughout the weekend and the entire holiday season. Some chains have an official Twitter account. Others have many, like one for each store, or one for each employee who wants to post messages. There are Twitter pages for designers, like Nicole Miller and Diane von Furstenberg.

Retailers also use Facebook to interact with their customers. But Facebook, with its photo albums and various applications, does not have the same no-frills immediacy as Twitter--which is why Twitter is ideal for instantaneously announcing sales.

In addition to bargains, stores are also using Facebook and Twitter to promote contests and games that they hope will keep consumers engaged and coming back. Best Buy has an interactive Secret Santa application on its Facebook page. Gap is using Twitter to inform New York City residents and visitors where its "Gap Cheer" bus (filled with dancers and drummers) will be parked and giving away sweaters and jeans.

Of course, sometimes retailers simply use their Twitter posts to capture the spirit of the season. At 3:30 Thursday morning, an employee posted seven words on the Macy's Twitter page, about a marching band that was practicing hours before the chain's Thanksgiving day parade.

It said: "Is he really running with a tuba?"

This holiday, who's looking out for online shoppers?

Web shoppers are in need of a digital-age Ralph Nader, the kind of firebrand consumer advocate who can focus public scorn on unscrupulous merchants.

Jeffery Boyd, Priceline's CEO, is among the merchants who "betrayed" customers, according to members of the Senate Commerce committee.

Last week, the U.S. Senate Commerce committee revealed that some of the Web's best-known retailers, including Barnes & Noble, Hotwire, Yahoo, Pizza Hut, Travelocity, Fandango, and Victoria's Secret, were part of a dubious marketing operation designed to mislead their own customers.

Serious questions about who's policing e-commerce were raised after the Commerce committee issued a report detailing how three marketing firms, Affinion, Webloyalty, andVertrue, generated $1.4 billion with the help of the e-tailers--largely by deceiving consumers into paying up to $20 a month for loyalty-program memberships. (Note to reader: take a look at the Commerce committee's report (PDF), as it's well written and seems to catch the e-tailers cold).

The lure for millions of consumers typically starts this way: Marketers present ads to them late in the transaction process at a retail site. An often-unwitting consumer is offered cash-back rewards if he or she provides an e-mail address. Tucked into the fine print are the full terms of the deal. By providing an e-mail address, a consumer agrees typically to pay between $10 and $20 a month.

For this number of marquee merchants to be mixed up in such a questionable gimmick seems unprecedented in the brief history of online commerce. Going into a holiday season that is already supposed to see soft spending, the scandal could undermine confidence in Web shopping, which generated $60 billion in sales during the first half of this year, according to the Senate report.

In their report, Senate investigators learned that Webloyalty surveyed 308 past and current users. This was the result.

(Credit: U.S. Senate Commerce committee)

One of the most glaring side issues of this fiasco is that for nearly a decade, consumers complained about these practices but few people in authority seemed to care. What is apparent is that many people in positions to help shoppers didn't, or from the perspective of some consumers, may not have done enough. They include:

Connecticut AG Richard Blumenthal
On paper at least, Connecticut appears to be a haven for controversial marketing companies. All three of the marketing firms under investigation by the Senate--Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty--are based in the state.

In 2006, Blumenthal settled a lawsuit with Trilegiant (PDF), the name Affinion was called then, for $14.5 million. But Affinion continues to operate, and Blumenthal hasn't won anything from the other two firms.

In April, Blumenthal launched an investigation into Webloyalty. That came one month before the Senate Commerce committee launched its probe. The feds have since held a public hearing and shared revealing information about all three marketing firms with the public. Blumenthal, who has been Connecticut's attorney general since 1990, promises more action.

"I will continue to vigorously and aggressively fight membership club scams," Blumenthal announced on the day the Senate Commerce committee held its hearing.

Blumenthal did not respond to multiple interview requests.

The retailers' directors and CEOs
For readers who question whether the CEOs and directors of such companies as Orbitz, Continental Airlines, US Airways, and 1-800-Flowers knew about what the marketing companies were up to on their behalf, this is what the government had to say:

"Committee staff has spoken to more than a dozen e-commerce partners of Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty and has reviewed thousands of pages of e-mail communications," according to the Senate report. "The interviews and the e-mail communications provide abundant evidence that the e-commerce partners are aware that their customers are being misled by the enrollment offers from Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty."

What would make a director or CEO take such risk with their company's reputation? In July, blogger Andrew Left, who specializes in shorting stocks, wrote that VistaPrint, an online printing company and a retail partner of Vertrue's, has generated as much as 44 percent of its quarterly net income by charging Vertrue access to its customers' credit cards.

But for even the most profit-at-all-cost investor, the questionable ploy could risk breaking customer trust and appears to have already battered stock prices.

Last week, the stock price of VistaPrint traded at nearly $56 the day before the Senate hearing on November 17, but it closed Tuesday at $50, a 10.7 percent drop. Shares of United Online, parent company of Classmates.com--which reportedly generated $70 million from the questionable marketing practices--fell from $8.40 before the November 17 hearing to $7.05 on Tuesday, a loss of about 16 percent.

When contacted, VistaPrint referred me to statements the company made earlier in the year in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In a 10-K SEC filing, the company said it expected revenue from membership discount programs "will decrease in the future" to possibly zero.

The big question is whether VistaPrint made that disclosure thinking that its payday would end as a result of the Senate investigation or one of the several lawsuits filed against it and Vertrue.

Visa, Mastercard, and American Express
The biggest credit card companies might also want to explain how they continued to process transactions from Webloyalty, Affinion, and Vertrue, when apparently they had received scores of complaints about these companies.

When consumers ask their credit card company to force a retailer to issue a refund, it is called a chargeback. A merchant that sees too many chargebacks is supposed to suffer some penalties. For instance, at Visa, chargeback-prone merchants are supposed to be fined and eventually booted off Visa's network. What happened here?

A Visa spokeswoman said she was unable to comment at this time. Representatives from Mastercard and American Express were not immediately available.

Names of online merchants that "betrayed" their customers according to John Rockefeller, chairman of the U.S. Senate Commerce committee, which is investing alleged deceptive marketing practices.