Unemployed A Big Spam/Phishing Target In 2009

Expect more sophisticated spamming in 2009. And thanks to the economy, an increase in scams targeting the down and out, the tax-rebate hopeful, and the noble yet digitally naïve pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps market.

Britons Flocked Online For Christmas Day Shopping

Close to 4 million British shoppers went online to purchase goods on Christmas Day, spending a total of  $154 million (102 million pounds) according to a new report from the ecommerce retailing body IMRG.

Trade Your Facebook Friends for a Whopper

Now here's an interesting approach to social media marketing. Burger King has a new campaign going, which requires interested consumers to install a Facebook App, and then to delete ten of their friends in exchange for a voucher for a free Whopper sandwich.

Yelp Branches Out With UK Site

People who are careful with their time and money and either live in or have a fondness for the UK should be pleased.  Yelp, the site famous for offering tons of user-generated reviews, has launched a version catering to this region.

Google Testing New AdWords Budgeting Feature

Google seems to be offering beta testing of a new AdWords budgeting feature called "Timeframe," which allows users to choose between monthly and daily budgeting. Barry Schwartz at Search Engine Roundtable says the beta testing has been confirmed, and points to a WebmasterWorld thread that includes a response from an official Google representative: