Every year, iPhone users anticipate the latest and greatest technology from Apple.  To date, AT&T has had the exclusive rights to the Apple iPhone, but is it possible this may be ending?  Loyal Verizon consumers are hopeful.  In the past few days, rumors have announced that the new iPhone could work on the CDMA network, which is used by Verizon Wireless.

Mass production of the CDMA iPhones could start in September 2010, however, some analysts forecast the release of an actual Verizon iPhone would be more likely in 2011.  Opening up the iPhone availability to Verizon, which has over 91 million customers, would greatly expand the iPhone market.  It is estimated that it would nearly double the number of iPhones in the U.S.  Those are numbers that Apple can’t ignore forever.

Pawn shops are becoming a large source of quick revenue these days for consumers who need short term loans and do not have the option of a payday or bank loan. Pawn shops, which offer money in the $100 or less range in exchange for the consumers collateral such as a TV or hunting equipment. The pawn shop loans the money with an additional 5-10% interest rate added on, if the consumer defaults on the loan after a period of time (usually 30 days) the item being held as collateral becomes merchandise within the shop. Pawn shops success during the recession has been dependent upon these loans rather than the sale of merchandise.

LeadPile is excited to announce some new and improved changes to the seller account! These changes will help publishers locate the offers much easier.

Check out these new features under the offers tab:

*Click on the “Search Offers” tab to find all the available offers
*Clicking on “Available Categories” or entering key terms into the “Search Offers” box will bring up all of the current offers
*Top and average payouts are listed next to each offer
*MicroClick Forms, MicroClick iForms, Banners, Text Links, On Exit Ads and On Side Ads are all available for you to choose from.
We are always looking for new publishers, or even current publishers that are not currently generating leads, to get started! A great publisher site that Leadpile has helped out on is usainstantpayday.com. We can help with your site too if needed!
We are seeking more leads and traffic for payday loan, auto finance, business cash advance, Broadview Security system, New Millennium Bank, bankruptcy and more!

We all had heard that Google put restrictions on China users because of a potential cyber attack(s) that had originated in China, however now GoDaddy is planning on doing this too. Reuters is reporting that GoDaddy will stop registering domains in China, however will maintain/service the .cn domain names that already exist. “We believe that many of the current abuses of the Internet originating in China are due to a lack of enforcement against criminal activities by the Chinese government,” Christine Jones, Go Daddy Group Inc general counsel, told a congressional commission hearing on Wednesday.”
GoDaddy has seen several attacks that seem to be originating in China, and this has prompted them to join forces with Google to protest China and the potential attacks. This brings up the issue again of internet censorship and companies putting principle over profits? Should more companies think this way and jump on the Google bandwagon, or is this not something fair that these US companies are doing to China?

The current economy has brought many changes to personal, business and government financial standings and now is showing effects on Social Security payouts as well. This year Social Security will have a flip in it’s financial balances, as it will begin paying out more in benefits than receiving in payroll taxes.
With the poor economic status many jobs have disappeared having 2 large effects on Social Security taxes collected. With jobs disappearing, many people applied for the benefits sooner than they had planned, as well as without as many people currently employed there are less paychecks to tax.
With the US debt rising and less taxes being collected due to unemployment it raises concern. By law, Social Security cannot pay out more than it’s balance in any year given. The often referred to “trust fund” that Social Security has serves as a way to track pay-as-you-go revenue and outlays over time, the “balance” is actually a history of its vast cash flows (a total of all past revenue minus outlays). In a year such as this, the “paper gains” from the interest earned on the securities will more than cover the difference between what it takes in and pays out.
Projections show the effects of the recession easing in the next few years with possible small surpluses reappearing in 2014 and 2015. In the following years as the baby boomers leave the work force, and start collecting rather than contributing, outlays will exceed revenue every year regardless of the economic status.

Solutions to this problem are few including raising taxes, lowering benefits, or pulling funds for general revenue.

LeadPile hopes to see bigger and better things with the economy in the future months coming!

These days, everyone is looking for a way to save some of the hard-earned dollars we are all clinging onto so tightly. Most people would probably say they have really cut back on their spending. However, people spend money as a part of their daily routine and a couple bucks here or there never really compute to the reality of what that number looks like over the course of a year. Walletpop.com recently published an article highlighted exactly what some of these bad habits really cost you, and after reading it, you might cringe yourself. According to the article, if a person participates in all of the daily spending habits, they are looking at around $12,288.50 per year. We’ve listed just a few of these habits that were highlighted in the article below.

Soda
For example, if you go to the vending machine or the gas station one time a day and spend $1.50 on a soda, that translates into $547.50 a year (before tax). Make that three a day and that’s a whopping $1,642.50.

Coffee
The daily trip to the barista for one cappuccino a day will cost you on average $1,442 per year. If it’s only during the work week, you’re still looking at $1,031 per year.

Lottery
A buck to win millions of dollars.

Doesn’t sound bad, does it? But, you do that every day and you’re looking at $365 per year in lottery tickets. And do people usually just buy one? Probably not. Statistics say you have more chances of getting in a car accident, plane accident or struck by lightening than winning the lottery. Doesn’t mean it’s impossible to win. After all, Hurley won, right? But, wouldn’t you like to put that $365 back into your savings account?

French Fries
Now we all know how bad French Fries are for you, so never mind the medical expenses they may cause down the road from health problems. But, getting fries with your combo meal three times a week at a fast food restaurant will cost an extra $80 per year. Get fries with your restaurant meal twice a week and you are looking at $312 per year.

Car Maintenance
Before you go out and purchase a new car, consider the cost to keep your current one. Small changes in the maintenance of your car can save money and is much less expensive than a car payment. Driving your car with the correct amount of pressure in the tires could save you as much as $172 per year. A clogged air filter could cost $180 per year.

Cigarettes
This is one of the more expensive categories. A pack of cigarettes at the gas station will cost anywhere from $5 to $10/pack depending on what state you live in. At that price, one pack per day translates between $1825 and $3650. Make that two packs a day and you are looking at $3650 to $7300 per year.
There’s probably 50 other things we all mindlessly spend money on, but it’s always good to take a step back and evaluate the budget and determine where to cut back and where to spend more. We still have to enjoy the simple pleasures in life, so if that Starbucks coffee or lottery ticket puts an extra bounce in your step, then by all means enjoy it.

Google announced today that it will shift its search engine off the mainland but will not close doors completely. Google and China have had an on-going dispute over recent months regarding restricting search results. There had been talks that Google would pull out completely from the Chinese market, however has decided to remain most likely due to its desire to profit from an explosively growing market.

According to the Associated Press, effective this afternoon, visitors to Google.cn are being redirected to Google’s Chinese language service based in Hong Kong. Results on these pages are not censored by Google, but the Chinese government filters can still restrict results that are viewed by mainland audiences.

Google originally set up a search engine in China in 2006. Currently about 700 or Google’s 20,000 employees are in China.

Leadpile is very much familiar with email marketing and works with a lot of publishers that are generating traffic through this source of marketing. Because it has become so popular with companies trying to monetize data, and publishers trying to have a less expensive way to generate traffic, reading up on any new email marketing trends is important. DMNews brought up some key points about email marketing:
1. Permission and privacy: Various states are making rulings on cases that involve consumer’s information, so keeping up with not only CAN-SPAM but other legislation involving consumers privacy, is key to keeping your nose clean with the law.

2. Video in email: The next biggest thing is utilizing video in emails. If you are not someone that is utilizing this yet, you better start reading up now.

3. Partnership of email marketing and social media: Incorporating links to social media in emails is something that marketers picked up on last year, however the future of these two is going to be big. Perfecting the use of social media in email is something that all emailers will have to learn more about, because this is going to be something that is going to continue to emerge and you will need to learn to keep up with it.

“Nineteen percent of online marketing budgets are now allocated to e-mail, according MarketingSherpa, and 54% of marketers plan to increase their e-mail budgets this year, based on research from Econsultancy and ExactTarget.” If you are not a company that is looking at increasing your email marketing budget, trends show you might want to reconsider this!

As a follow up to our recent posting regarding Arizona Payday loans, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 5-3 against the bill that would have allowed lenders to continue offering the high-interest short-term loans with the proposed adjustments to the rules.
In Arizona there are currently 596 Payday Loan businesses that provide employment for 2,500 people. The risk of these people losing their jobs is high, as well as loan customers will have to turn to most likely more expensive options to receive quick cash short-term loans.
The bill would have allowed fees of $15 per $100 borrowed, restricted the number of loans an individual could take out at one time and allowed a customer to rescind the transaction if the money was returned within two business days.
LeadPile will continue to keep a close eye on this and keep you updated on any new developments or possible hope for the AZ Payday industry!

It seems like most times when I pay attention or notice where things are made, it is frequently “Made in China” or “Product of Mexico”. What is actually made in the US, and how is it determined where something is made when the parts for one item may come from all different companies?
According to msnbc.com a product “Made in America” has to be all or virtually all produced in the United States. The Federal Trade Commission uses up nearly 40 pages to explain what is required to label a product with this title.
To wear the American label, the product must be assembled and majority of the costs associated with producing the product must have incurred in the United States. If a product was made in several different states, one of them being the US, the consumers may be able to see this in a couple of different ways. The product may show the percentage of the content that was made in the U.S., or it can be stated on the product “Made in USA from imported parts”, or “Assembled in the USA”.
If a company gets caught making an untrue “Made in America” claim, the FTC will get an order forcing you to stop making that claim – there is potential for a heavy fine for each infraction. The FTC relies on consumers to “tip them off” to these infractions on their Complaint Assistant Web site.

No really? The social networking site Facebook has hit it BIG because it passed Google in the number of visitors coming to their site. Information Week stated, “For the week ending March 13, Facebook accounted for 7.07% of all U.S. Internet visits, while Google accounted for 7.03%, according to Hitwise. It was the first time Facebook had held the No. 1 spot for a week.” This is great news for Facebook, because this sort of ranking could potentially help them out financially. So, who will benefit besides Facebook themselves on this sort of increased ranking?
In the lead generation space I wish there was maybe some additional opportunity for this mega social networking site to be able to truly produce some great lead generation results. I have yet so see a publisher we work with at Leadpile that is effectively using Facebook to generate leads. What needs to happen in order for Affiliate Marketing to truly be able to capitalize on this site, or are there publishers that are showing success with monetizing Facebook traffic? I would like to speak with them if it is happening!
Great job Facebook… keep doing what you are doing, because it’s working!

Arizona may have good news for the Payday loan industry this week as an amendment will be heard on Tuesday at 1:30pm. Adjustments suggested would restrict the number of loans a person could take out at one time, allowing fees of $15 per $100 borrowed, and also allowing the consumer to cancel the transaction if the borrowed money is returned within two business days. The amendment would require businesses to give at least 1.5 % of the fees it collects to “organizations that provide services to low-income and moderate income individuals” in their community.