COVER STORY
Weblining
Yup, it's like that nasty old practice of redlining, updated for the Information Age. A growing number of companies are using databases teeming with personal information to "micro-segment" their customers. The more finely they do, the more they can figure what you're worth to them--and cut you off if you're not profitable. Sure, stereotyping can mean marketing efficiencies. It can also mean newly legitimized forms of discrimination
SPECIAL REPORT: INTERNET FRAUD
Fraud on the Net
Get-rich schemes, auction rip-offs, bogus e-commerce sites: Con artists can ply their trades online with great speed and at no cost. And e-businesses, too, are marks
Online Scambusters
No other cybersleuths have been as successful as the FTC's nimble team of lawyers under Paul Luehr
Card Sharps
As e-commerce booms, so does credit-card fraud. The lure is specially great for scammers in Eastern Europe and Asia, where legal systems are less equipped to cope
FEATURES
PERSONALITIES
A Dangerous Year
Polymorph George Bell will need all his experience to shake up Excite@Home
E-Books' Brass Band
Roll over, Gutenberg. Microsoft's e-book evangelist Dick Brass is out to upend publishing
UPSTARTS
Speed Master
Akamai leads the pack in a new market aimed at dramatically improving Internet performance. But it's facing fierce rivalry
STRATEGIES
A Digital Doughboy
By kneading quantities of data, new software is changing everything about how Pillsbury caters to consumers
Reinventing Herman Miller
The office furniture maker's SQA division has pioneered Web use, galvanizing the entire company in the process
Big Blue Gets Wired
IBM is frantically turning itself into a business that takes as much advantage of the Internet as any dot-com
NET WORTH
Is the Big Bucks Party Over?
With so much venture capital chasing Net startups, the days of hefty cash infusions may be numbered
In the Zhone
Investors are betting big on its projected system of networking gear handling voice, Net, and TV signals
Is the Street Lowballing IPOs?
That's underwriting, all right: Underpricing left $27 billion on the table between 1990 and 1998
Whose Euro B-News Will Click?
Small financial-news sites actually have a fighting chance against the likes of ft.com and wsj.com
NET CULTURE
Net Work
A photo essay on Silicon Valley's Icarian Inc., which provides online software that helps companies hire and manage their workforces. The program works for Icarian, too
COMMENTARY
PERSPECTIVE
It's the Service, Stupid
E-tailers who don't stake out catering to the customer are being short-sighted. It's the stuff loyalty is made of
DATA MINE
Helping the Disabled Navigate the Net
The Web needs to be -- and can be -- made more welcoming for a population that spends $175 billion a year
DIGITAL DISPATCH
The Panic Over Hiring
A BMW as a signing bonus? There's not much Silicon Valley recruiters won't offer in their "war for talent"
CUTTING EDGE
E-Marketing Faces a Bloodbath
So many sites linking buyers and sellers, so little need per industry. Investors are heading for a cliff
IN EVERY ISSUE
Home Page
New Economy titans for President, privacy warnings in dot-com filings, "paper shredders" that are actually spying gadgets, U.S. corporations that aren't mastering their domains, singing for options, the allure of debt financing
CLICKS & MISSES
Analyze This: AOL Rules!
It's got a long a list of brands as good as the Web can
offer. And that's why it has 21 million customers
|
|
 |
ONLINE LINKS
Additional Q&As and more
Keep up with developments in the fast-paced world of e-business at ebiz.businessweek.com. The site offers the latest news from the staff of Business Week magazine, Business Week Online, and from CNET. Check out what we'll be analyzing in our upcoming set of regular E-business features.
Monday
Perspective:
The Limits of Gee Whiz
Companies shouldn't just plug and play whizzy consumer analytical software. There are ethical issues.
by Heather Green
(Mar. 27)
Tuesday
Company Closeup:
Cyberspace or Bust
kforce.com may be the Tiffany of job sites. But $40 million to build a Web site?
by Charles Haddad
(Mar. 28)
Wednesday
Movers & Shakers:
He's Got Algorithm
Meet MIT math whiz Tom Leighton, the man behind Internet phenom Akamai.
by William Symonds
(Mar. 29)
Thursday
Street Wise:
Nuthin' But Tech
E-biz stocks are getting more than a tad crazy. Get our weekly dose of sanity.
by Sam Jaffe
(Mar. 30)
Friday
Clicks & Misses:
The Mature Boomer
ThirdAge.com aims to create a gathering place for graying baby boomers.
by Ellen Neuborne
(Mar. 31)
Note: Our review of Halftheplanet.com, a Web site for the disabled,
ran on Mar. 24 instead of Mar. 31.
|
On the Cover and above:
Photo-Illustrations by Aaron Goodman
|
What Would It Cost to Split Microsoft?
One economist says breaking up Microsoft would boost costs for independent software developers by $10 billion a year. Another says costs would be negligible. Who's right? Our columnist Mike France sorts it out.
Perspective, Feb. 14
Britain's First Net Billionaire
An 18th century clergyman didn't prove the existence of God with probability formulas. But they've helped Mike Lynch earn a pretty pence using them to parse text.
Movers & Shakers, Mar. 1
 Wooing the Net Customer
Ten years is a lifetime in Net years. Mary Modahl draws on a decade of research at Forrester in a new book on how to win over Net customers. Movers & Shakers, Mar. 22
 Everybody wants people to hang around their site, and fun is a powerful magnet. But how can you get them to spend money, too? Particularly if they are kids. Our experts apply their magic touch this week to www.willya.com
|
|
Q&As
Read our profile of
George Bell, CEO of
Excite@Home, then find out what he
has to say for himself.
Our Cutting Edge columnist says online marketplaces for business are headed for a bloodbath. Let's see what CEO Mark Walsh of one leading marketplace, VerticalNet, has to say about that.
Forums
Let's talk. ebiz.businessweek.com now features interactive discussions with BW writers and your fellow e.biz readers. Join in or start a new topic today!
Search
You can't get the full benefit of our insights and analysis without a search engine. Try "b2b."
The Digital Stacks
Behind on your reading? "What Every CEO Should Know about Electronic Business," a Special Report on Europe, and other must-reads are right here.
|
|
