Verizon announced today that they are growing rapidly in order to stay ahead of the "technology curve."  According to their release, "Superpages.com is taking advantage of online growth opportunitities by adding Pay for Calls to its pay for performance suite and by launching its new Extended Distribution Program." 

Hey everybody, Cid got promoted!  Congratulations!  Now if we could only figure out a way to get her to do more interviews like this...What if we kept showing her picture? 

In eBay’s presentation to investors regarding the purchase of Skype for $2.6 billion, the online auctioneer listed the monetization of lead generation as a primary objective. By adding Skype’s VoIP capabilities, eBay hopes to venture into the burgeoning pay per call market. Can Skype deliver what eBay hopes?

Companies are beginning to realize the commercial uses of VoIP are huge, which is why companies like Superpages.com are developing pay for performance solutions that work online and in print. eBay has correctly seen the potential of the pay per call market, but their acquisition has been driven by the stand-alone potential of Skype as a revenue generator. Based on what eBay has planned for potential applications resulting from the Skype acquisition, it’s clear that eStara, and others, are further along in the development of pay per call and click to call services. It’s not just about the voice contact it’s - where, when, why and how you engage the online customer that matters. It’s about integrating voice with data tools.

The Kelsey Group predicts that by 2009 pay per calls will reach an estimated $4 billion. However, in order to be a player in pay per call, you have to offer phone to phone connectivity. Moreover, pay per call is not a peer to peer application, it has to combine both online and conventional telephony components.

It appears that eBay is buying Skype on the promise that they can deliver what companies like eStara have been doing since 2000, which is bridging phone-based and online customer interaction.

Yay!  We've been named to the Pulver 100 for the second year in a row!!  And, while we're really excited about it...here's our press release...we're also excited about this Academy Award Nomination Speech Generator we found.

Here's our Acceptance Speech for the Best Series of Special Effects Passing as a Story Oscar:

Thank you! Oh! Thank you! I can hardly believe this! I feel so blessed! And this statue - it's so shiny! Oh, thank you again! I just want everyone to read in the tabloids that even in my wildest hallucinations, I never would have fantasized that this could ever liberate me from dinner theatre. And to the other super-amazing nominees, I want each of you to know how totally wonderful your fake smiles makes me feel right now!

You know when they first told me I was nominated, I just had to take a craft seminar and obsess about how freakish my thighs have been. I guess it all just makes me feel kinda special

You know, there are so many obsequious little people to thank! First off though, I want to thank the senile old bats of the Academy, who looked deep within their Magic 8-Balls before giving me this fantastic award! Also, I want to thank Zeus, for being such a powerful force in my life. And to the People Under the Stairs, who taught me to take life by the day. And finally, to all the personal assistants I fired - I couldn't have done it without you!

Thank you America, and good night!