Short Cuts
Utah Don’t-Bid Registry Won’t Be Enforced Today: Report
A Utah law that would register “electronic trademarks” and prevent them from being used as search terms without owner consent probably won’t be enforced when it goes into effect today. Representatives from Google, Microsoft, Yahoo! and AOL, among other online companies, met with Utah lawmakers last week to express concerns about the law’s impact. Associated press quoted AOL lobbyist Paul Rogers as saying the meeting helped lawmakers see that the law needs “to be modified and perhaps even repealed.” A lawsuit to overturn the measure seemed unlikely, Rogers added.
United Marketing Buys Brand Affinity Marketing
United Marketing Group, a direct marketing company specializing in lifestyle membership programs, announced it has completed an acquisition of Brand Affinity Marketing, a privately-held branded membership business. Fairfield CT-based BAM currently offers two products, the Budget Travel Rewards Club from Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel magazine, and Healthy Rewards from Prevention Magazine.
Eastpoint Acquires SEO Firm
Stockholm-based Eastpoint announced it has agreed to buy U.S. search optimization firm eTrafficJams through its GetUpdated subsidiary. ETrafficJams’ business model offers SEO on a performance basis, with clients paying only for top 10 organic rankings. Eastpoint says it hopes to take Clearwater FL-based eTrafficJams to the rest of the U.S. and to Europe.
