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Show ___ The Salt Lake Tribune BUSINESS Friday, January 22, 1999 CENTERPIECE Web Companies Rewarding ‘Frequent Clickers’ Idea is to build customerbasesbyattracting surfers who will return again and again to samesites Brazil’s Crisis Sparks Dropin Interest Rates ———————__ THE WASHINGTON POST “The ideais to recognize you for WASHINGTON — Theaverage interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages was 6.78 percent this week, down from 6.83 percent last week, Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Thursday. The average, a four-week low, has remained below 7 percent for seven months.It reached a 31-year low of 6.49 percentin early October. Its peak for 1998 was 7.22 percentin late April. “Mortgagerates are down little this week; mostly on news of Brazil’s financial problems,” said Freddie Mac economist Robert Van Order. “We expect, though, If you like frequent-flier miles, you may love one of the Web’s emerging business models: frequent-clicker programs. AsInternet companies struggieto find profits to justify their sky-high stock prices, many are launching “loyalty” programsthat mirror incentives to do more as you go the popular awardplans pioneered bytheairlines. The hope is that Web surfers will be drawn again and again to the samesites — and spend moretimeclicking through each one — so they can rack up hugeblocks of points. Website operators can point to that increased traffic to charge advertisers big bucks for a spot on their page CBS SportsLine kicked off its version this that rates will remain at or near this level well into 1999.” week: For each page you view atits SportsLine Website, you get one entry in a random drawing for a $1 million prize. You also get reward points for each page viewed. The points are redeemable at www.sportsline.com for merchandise and special offers. Earn enough points and you can participatein private chats with celebrities. “The idea is to recognize you for what you've done and give you incentives to do moreas you goalong, " said Lawrence Kru- Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, aver- aged 6.42 percent this week, down from 6.48 percent. guer, vice president of SportsLine, which Inaccuracies in Drug Ads Could Harm Consumers hopesthe points will help it catch up to Web frontrunner ESPN SportsZone. ‘Check scores and get rewarded. Buy products and get rewarded. Click on ads and get rewarded.” WASHINGTON — A studyof ads in the medical journals doctors While SportsLine’s points can only be earned and redeemedat its site, three start-up companies are working feverishly to corral read found inaccuracies and mis- big groupings ofsites, all of which will pool their frequent-clicker programsandallow us- leading statements that could lead to improper prescriptions in 44 percent of cases. Add patients de- one Webdirectory and will be announcing de- The Orton Group,a Salt Lake “We think therewill be only a few of these big networks, because consumers won't have the time te figure out which ofthe offers will City advertising, public-relations and design company, has been selected as the agency of record for Washington County Tourism & tails soon. what you’ve done andgive you along.” be the most valuable,” said West Shell III, Convention Bureau. Lawrence Kruguer Vice president, Sportsline chief executive of Netcentives. “We recognize the consumeris making an investment in time, and the return needsto be in a currency they Groupwill be responsible for creating regional and national advertising aimed at increasing visitors. It also will help promote the new value.” Notall of the programs to reward Websurf- ers are based on points. CyberGold,for exam- ers to redeem points for goods on anyparticipating site. In effect, the entrepreneurs are creating new electronic “money” systems that “pay” people to return to Websites and become loyal customers. But Internet users might not embraceit as readily as some of the big guys think. The programs reinforce that uneasy feeling many have about being watched, that every click, every surfing whim, is being stored in some giant computer somewhere for marketers to ple, pays people in cash. Users can spend CyberGold money at participating Websites or evenin the real world by transferring it onto their Visa credit card accounts,dollar for dol- lar, to be spent anywhere. “Wefelt there was a kind ofcrisp honesty associated with letting the consumers know whatthe value of the rewardreally is,” said Nat Goldhaber, chief executive of CyberGold. CyberGold and Intellipost each have about 1.2 million registered participants, while Netcentives reports nearly 700,000. Collectively, the roster of Web companies that have signed plunder. Butthose concerns aren’t going to stop this wave. The Web's leading gateway sites — Ya- Dixie Center convention facility in St. George. oO First Security Bankwill open a branch Wednesdayin the new Al- bertson’s at 8055 W. 3500 South in Magna. The grand opening includes prize giveaways and the chance to win a trip to the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. The branch will be open from 10 a.m.to 8 p.m. Mondaythrough Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. up to issue or redeem credits in these three rewards networksincludes hundredsofwell- hoo, Lycos and Disney's new Go Network — are among those desperate to attract repeat business. All of the big portalsites are in talks with one or moreofthreefledgling points brokers — NetcentivesInc., Intellipost Corp. and CyberGold Inc. — to create frequent-clicking programs on their behalf. ‘I fully expect to see every major portal launch its own branded points programin the first half of this year. It will happen this quickly,” said Steven Markowitz, chief executive of Intellipost, whose companyhas signed trafficked Web sites, such as ESPN Sports- Zone and Barnesandnoble.com. America Online Inc. has had a loyalty program since 1996. AOL members who make purchasesat participating merchants or who agree tofill out opinion surveys or who open an investmentaccountearn points that can be used to reduce their monthly subscriber fee. But the new online reward programs could take this program to a muchbiggerscale. The Orton o Cherokee Minerals and Oii Inc., Draper, has received shareholder approval to changeits name to HydroMaid International. Its current OTC bulletin board trading symbol, HYII, will remain un- changed. HydroMaid manufacturers and distributes a waterpowered garbage disposal. o mandinga highly advertised drug, and the result can be dangerous, contends Sidney Wolfe of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. He cites the Spanish Rezulin ad accompanied bythe warning label in English, and asked the Food and Drug Administration to make man- ufacturer Parke Davis run a cor- rection. Ensuring drug ads are accurate Spaceplane Is Delayed by Fuel Tank Flaw assembled. On Dee.23,after oneoftheleft tank’s lobes was cured, “we discovered the inner skin of one of @ Continued from B-1 where the X-33 is being assem- is the FDA’s job, butit typically does not see ads before they're published. ner and outer “skin” layers. The company bonds those skins to both sidesof a “‘core” layer made The FDAagreesfair advertising can educate, andthe ager ual- by Hexcel, which hasa plant next to Alliant’s Magnafacility. ly sparked the ad boomtwoyears ago byeasing restrictions on TV ads. Since then, the FDA counts 29 Rising said the tanks are the largest liquid-hydrogen tanks prescription drugs advertised on TV ever built from graphite-epoxy composite, a strong lightweight material. The FDA has warned their mak- ers 17 times aboutviolations such Alliant shipped the lobes and other parts to Lockheed Martin’s Sunnyvale, Calif., plant to be as downplayingrisks orstretching benefits. “cured” or baked beforethey are the lobes was bubbling” and sepa- rating from the core material, Rising said from Palmdale,Calif., bled at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works. Rising said the defect occurred in one of the first lobes built by Alliant, and inspection showed the rest of the left tank and the right tank werefine. The Clearfield plant will finish making a replacement lobe lining by March 25, then it must be attachedto the tank, so the total de- lay could be seven months, “but wefeel we can do better,” Rising sai NASAhas provided $350,000 to Dugway to pour, wire and partly equip two concrete pads where a control trailer and a tracking antennawill be located for X-33 landings, said Dugway spokes- woman Melanie Moore. IRS Welcomes State, Federal Inquries at Shop www.tax.ex.state.ut.us. Janice Perry Gully, a Tax Commission spokeswoman, said her agency in recent years also has had an IRS representative on hand during the peak filing season and hashad a phoneavailable for anyone who wants to call the IRS from their office. But with the One-Stop Tax Shop, “We'll have people from both agencies in the sameoffice year round,” Gully said. “It will be really easy to get all the an- swers you need.” A new AlphaGraphics print shop has opened in the Lemmon Tree Plaza in St. George. The store at 228 W. St. George Blvd.is owned by Michael and Wendy Burke. a Utah milk production during the fourth quarter of 1998 totaled 381 million pounds, up 4.1 percent from the samequarter in 1997, ac- cording to the Utah Agricultural Statistics Service. The number of milk cowsduring the quarter averaged 93,000, 4,000 more than the fourth quarter of 1997. @ Continued from B-1 providing more federal income tax assistance to Utahns. The agency has madefederal tax information and forms, along with links to the IRS homepage, available through its Web site at TheSaltLakeGribune http:/Awww.sltrib.com All of our luxury used cars come with somethingextra. <en Garffbacks you up with Certified Used Cars. Ken Garff Audi 1-888-323-5869 Ken Garff Jaguar ‘ \ win Ken Garff Mercede 7-710 Looking for a used Auc Ji, Porsche, Jaguar, Mercedes, Saab or Volvo with all the exeras? Stare your used vehicle search with Ken Garff. 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