The bill could give copyright holders a number of powers that they’ll be able to use without trial if a website is thought to be in breach of copyright laws, and a fair few major online companies aren’t happy.

SOPA could let companies such as record labels and movie studios force websites to remove content, suspend financial transactions and even have power over what the search engines choose to rank. So Wikipedia, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, AOL, eBay, Yahoo, PayPal, Mozilla and more are all planning on taking action.

This online coalition could unleash what they’re calling a “nuclear option”, in which all of the companies involved turn off their website for 24 hours, simultaneously, in order to protest the act and show what would happen to online business if they decided to take their ball and go home.

This sort of move could upset consumers and provoke a backlash from users, but a spokesperson explained that Google, et al, feel that drastic action is necessary:

“This type of thing doesn’t happen because companies typically don’t want to put their users in that position. The difference is that these bills so fundamentally change the way the Internet works. People need to understand the effect this special-interest legislation will have on those who use the Internet.”

Markham Erickson – Director, NetCoalition

It’s a safe bet that 24 hours without Google, Wikipedia and eBay will force internet users around the world to stop messing around and do some work stand up, take notice and protest SOPA, especially when they realise that this is an attempt by the US government to allow American businesses to take action against websites all over the world without any sort of judicial process.

And it might just do some damage to the online economy too…

We think the thought of a world without Google might make the people behind SOPA reconsider, but we’d like to know what you think. If you support or oppose a blackout, let us know in the comments section, or on Google+ or Facebook.

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And we’re ahead of the international curve too.

According to a series of surveys from KPMG, globally, 65% of people prefer to shop for books, CDs, DVDs and games online. But here in Britain, that figure rises to a staggering 77%.  And it’s not just stocking fillers that we’re buying online either. 74% of us like to buy our flights and holidays over the internet instead of visiting a travel agent, and 61% of us think grocery shopping is less stressful online than it is in the supermarkets.

UK Embracing Mobile

If you think figures are high for online shopping, wait until you see the survey’s section on how much Britons use mobile internet.

88% of UK mobile users are comfortable using mobile apps to do everything from playing games to buying products on the go, with this figure set to rise as smartphones become more and more widespread over the coming years. And, of course, everyone is more than happy to use smartphones to access their favoured social networks, as KPMG’s European head of technology told the BBC:

“From buying goods on their mobile phones to keeping up with friends on social networks, consumers are increasingly reliant on a range of technologies that perform important – yet often overlapping – tasks.

This new ‘converged lifestyle’ will have huge implication for retailers.”

Tudor Aw – European head of technology, KMPG

In fact, the one area where Brits don’t embrace the internet in their droves is when it comes to data storage. Worldwide, 65% of people are happy to use products like Google Docs to store information and data, while here in the UK, only 53% of us think that online storage is secure enough to trust.

So while companies might have a hard time getting customers to embrace the cloud, they can count on consumers wanting to purchase their products online, or from mobile handsets.

If they can find their websites of course…

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Because after declaring war on Facebook with Google+, upsetting Apple with a series of Smartphones and teaming up with the Citizen’s Advice Bureau, Google have decided they now want to become more involved with your online shopping. And not just with the browsing and paying parts.

Apparently people at Google aren’t happy that 40% of the people who use Google Product Search end up heading over to Amazon to make their purchases, instead of generating revenue by clicking on sponsored links and buying direct from Google customers. So they’ve decided that they’re going to start delivering too.

And because this is Google, who have a pathological need to one-up everyone else on the web, they’ve decided to offer the sort of next-day delivery that you can only get from Amazon Prime.

In future, the idea is that anyone making a mobile or web purchase will be offered next-day delivery on all items in stock – all handled by a Google-run distribution network. So far, this is only being trialled in San Francisco, but Google are hoping to roll it out across the USA very soon.

And then? The world!

We await the news that Google Delivery has been “sunsetted” with bated breath.

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It’s not the first time Ebay has introduced innovations in the way British businesses sell online, following a joint project with Facebook earlier this year, but it is the first time that they’ve approached policymakers directly.

Working alongside a research agency, the ecommerce powerhouse commissioned a survey of over 2,000 smartphone users to find out just what was holding back mobile commerce (m-commerce).  And their findings have been compiled into a call to arms for the Government, businesses and mobile networks alike.

The Mobile Manifesto

Mobile Pages are a Must – 75% of people find current ecommerce websites difficult to use on the move
Networks Need to be Secure – 68% of people don’t think mobile networks are secure enough to send bank details or personal information
Ofcom Needs to Speed Up – 4G needs to be rolled out quicker to improve the mobile infrastructure
Road and Rail Are Key – Mobile coverage across the railway and motorway networks must be improved to appeal to commuters

And finally, the Mobile Manifesto demands that the Government cap data charges for consumers who are accessing the internet from abroad. Which isn’t surprising given the astronomical bills that users can rack up while on the continent.

Hotspot Sponsorship

But Ebay aren’t just making demands of other people to improve the UK mobile network. They’re also prepared to put their money where their mouth is with a series of public WiFi hotspots, which will allow users free, high-speed mobile internet access. Hopefully so that they can check their bids on a certain online auction site…

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Without wanting to sound like a broken record, here at the FirstFound Blog we’ve mentioned the importance of Facebook Business Pages once or twice.Or seven or eight times – we forget which exactly.

But our point stands, especially now that Facebook have announced that they’ll be working alongside online auctioneer Ebay to create a brand new integrated ecommerce system. Or, in plain English, Facebook and Ebay are bringing online shopping to social media.

Facebook will be working alongside eBay and subsidiary Magento to ‘seamlessly integrate’ Facebook pages with Magento’s online shopping software. And the data they provided when this partnership was announced demonstrates that there’s real money to be made for businesses who want to sell socially:

• Levi Jeans – Over 50% of Cyber Monday traffic on their online shop comes from Facebook referrals
• American Eagle – Customers entering the site via Facebook spend 57% more than those who don’t

Seems fairly conclusive to us – this is a system that’s not just going to attract more customers. It’s going to attract customers that will spend more in your shop.

Security

But customers still have fears about security and privacy on Facebook – and a partnership with Ebay isn’t going to do much to address those concerns. Which is why a select group of Facebook users are testing another product developed in partnership with another, widely trusted company. PayPal.

Facebook, PayPal and Ebay. Sounds like a recipe for success to us…

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If you’re about to work yourself up into a frenzied panic over the EU banning biscuits, you can calm down. Go have a cup of tea or something.

If you’ve guessed we’re talking about browser cookies, well done. Have yourself a cookie.

European Laws to Affect Website Cookies

From 25 May 2011, laws covered by the European e-Privacy directive mean that you’ll now need to give explicit consent to any website which uses cookies to track what you do. That means before you access any content on sites like The FirstFound Blog, you’ll need to leap through hoops saying that you’re OK with us having Google Analytics (that we use to see which articles you like best) and any other cookies that we have enabled.

And you’ll have to do this for every single website you visit (except, strangely, for those used in online shops).

The directive is an attempt to protect privacy, because some companies use cookies to show you targeted adverts. For example, if you spend all day browsing blogs about shoes, online shoe shops and posting on the “I really love shoes” website, someone might look at your cookies and show you an advert for shoes.

However, cookies aren’t just about advertising. They’re about streamlining your experience.

So what this directive will actually mean is that you’ll still be shown adverts, but it’ll take longer for you to actually use the web to find or do anything. Expect to be bombarded with popups, dialogue boxes and other speed bumps and distractions.

If you want an example of what this ruling could mean for you as an Internet user, take a look at what David Naylor has to say.

What about businesses

In the short term, Communications Minister Ed Vaizey has explained that there won’t be any action in the short term, because the government haven’t seen the regulations and haven’t decided just what businesses need to do yet.

The only advice they have given is that businesses need to “consider how to get consent from customers”.

For the vast majority of businesses, it’s going to have to be irritating, time-wasting popups.

Amazon.

Amazon’s online eBook store and branded Kindle e-reader are making the company millions. So, predictably, Google are looking for a piece of that pie.

After deals with 4,000 publishers including Penguin, Simon & Schuster and Random House, Google are making over three million books available for download. Currently only available in the US, Google eBooks won’t be compatible with the Kindle, but that may not prove to be a problem.

This huge library of literary classics (and not-so-classics) will be accessible by anyone with a web browser. And Google will be providing free applications so you can read on your iPod, iPad, or Android-powered mobile phone.

With Google looking to take their bookstore overseas in 2011, you wouldn’t bet against them winning this fight too.

But that’s not stopped ideas from crossing the pond, and the latest American invention to reach these shores (courtesy of Amazon.co.uk) is Black Friday.

Black Friday Comes to Britain

So, what is Black Friday?

Black Friday is the name given to the day after Thanksgiving, and traditionally marks the start of the Christmas buying season in the US. Shops see their biggest footfalls and number of sales on Black Friday, after competing with each other by offering various loss-leading discounts.

The nearest UK equivalent would be 5:30pm on Christmas Eve, when petrol stations and pound shops play host to swarms of slightly drunk, scared and desperate British men, hoping that the perfect present for their wife or girlfriend will somehow be nestling just behind an unseasonal bag of firelighters.

So What Are Amazon Doing?

In order to entice customers into their online shop, Amazon is introducing thousands of loss-leading discounts. Games consoles, TVs and traditional big sellers will be offered at a fraction of their normal prices. With online spending set to hit £22.4m per hour in the runup to Christmas, this could well tempt online shoppers away from eBay and the glut of bargain websites that have cropped up following the recession.

There has been criticism however, with The Daily Mail criticising the site for being unable to keep up with demand. Apparently bargains are being snapped up by eager customers, and Amazon aren’t willing to sell off all of their stock at a loss. This might sound like a “disaster” to The Mail, but it seems like sound business sense to the rest of us.

If you’re looking to attract Black Friday traffic, you’ll need to act fast, with an AdWords campaign set to run tomorrow. Our AdWords team can help, but you’ll need to get in touch very soon.

Berners-Lee claims that some of the internet’s most successful businesses are threatening the internet’s democratic foundations. And his fingers are firmly pointed at Facebook and Apple.

Facebook

Tim Berners-Lee singles out social networking sites as a prime example of a “walled garden”. Sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Friendster have brilliant databases showing how people are linked and interact, but then lock that data into the site in question. In Berners-Lee’s own words, “Eash site is a silo, walled off from the others…” – because data cannot be shared between sites (if the user wishes), Facebook sets itself apart from the Internet.

Funnily enough, this issue has been brought up before, with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg set dead against Facebook sharing any of the data he’s hoarding. As such it’s unlikely that Facebook are going to become more receptive to Berners-Lee’s dreams of the free exchange of information.

Apple

Tim Berners-Lee also criticised Apple (who, last week, called a huge press conference to announce they’d be selling albums which have been available offline since 1962) for creating their own walled-off section of the web.

By encouraging businesses to use Apps instead of websites, Apple has encouraged to take information off the web and store it in places which are only accessible by using Apple products. By keeping everything bottled up in iTunes’ centralised marketplace, Apple are creating a monopoly which Berners-Lee thinks can only be bad for users.

Predictably, Tim Berners-Lee has come out in support of net neutrality, following Ed Vaizey’s recent comments, although the communications minister has since decided he was misquoted, and isn’t in favour of a two tier internet after all.

This debate could rage on for a while, so we’re interested to hear what you think. Are Apple and Facebook bad for the web, or is Tim Berners-Lee pining for a utopian internet that could never come to pass. Share your thoughts in the comments section, or let us know via Twitter.

In 2009, online industries and e-commerce added up to 7.2% of the UK’s gross domestic product. To put that in context, it means that the Internet is now worth more to Britain than the Agriculture, Communications and Hotel/Restaurant industries combined. And if predictions are to be believed, online services will be worth more to the country than the financial sector by 2015.

All this sounds very impressive, but what does it mean for businesses?

It means that being online, and being found online has never been more important. People in the UK spend more money per person online than any other country in the world. So far in 2010, 33 million of us have bought products or services online, spending around £50 billion on goods, travel or services.

Can your business really afford to miss out on that kind of market?

If you’re not already online, the first thing you need is a website. FirstFound’s Web Design team can provide you with a professional, affordable SEO friendly design to get you up and running.

Once you’re online, you need to make sure your site is found. The most cost effective way to do this is with a search engine optimisation (SEO) campaign, that’ll help your site climb to the top of Google. For that, you’ll need FirstFound’s expert search engine consultants.

If you need any more advice or assistance on getting a slice of Britain’s world beating Internet economy, give FirstFound a call on 0161 909 3400. We can’t wait to hear from you.