It is official, Yahoo has released it’s 2008 top 10 searches for various industries.  The searches that probably apply the most to Leadpile Lead Exchange and it’s affiliates, are the top 10 “economy” searches.

2008 TOP 10 “economy” SEARCHES  

IRS Stimulus Checks
Oil Prices
Gold Prices
Gas Prices
Dow Jones
Sallie Mae
Stock Market
AIG
Foreclosures
Debt Consolidation

This shows that there is a great opportunity for advertisers and publishers to optimize this by matching up the people needing help in these areas, with the companies that will provide the services they are looking for. Leadpile is the place for both of these parties to come together and truly help the consumers doing all these TOP 10 SEARCHES.

10 ways you can potentially save $500:

1. Drive less
*The cost of gas and maintaining a car can be very costly. Use carpooling or public transportation.
2. Buy your own coffee or energy drinks instead of stopping each day
*The cost of a Starbucks coffee is at least $3.00 and energy drinks at your local convenience store are about the same. Buy your own coffee and energy drinks in bulk from the grocery store.
3. Conserve energy at home
*Increase your temperature you keep your home at while not there and also while at home. Adjusting it just a degree or two saves a lot of money in your monthly electrical bill.
4. Do your own landscaping
* Pull your own weeds. It is a nice way to stay active and save a lot of money.
5. Think twice about getting that new pet
* Taking care of a pet requires a lot of time and also money to maintain. This is an added expense that should be done when discretionary income is higher.
6. Consider buying store brand products around the house
* All grocery stores have their own store brand products. Some are better than others. However, trying the different variations will save a whole lot of money.
7. Limit internet, cable, and other media costs you have in your home
* Do we all really need 100s of channels to watch. Most Americans watch the same channels on a regular basis. This can be very costly if you don’t keep it to a minimum.
8. Sign up for any reimbursement plans available at work
*Find out if your employer has any sort of carpool reimbursement, tuition reimbursement and other programs they offer for their employees. This could save a lot of money on things you already do.
9. Eat in
* This is one of the biggest expenses we all incur, and also a place where we can save a lot of money by limiting how much we are eating out.
10. Pay at least minimum payments on credit cards to avoid future credit card fees
*Not paying your minimum payment amount leads to added fees from the credit card company, but is also affects your credit which makes your credit score go down. When you credit score goes down, that causes you to either not be able to get a loan or have to pay more to get the loan.

It is easier said than done with these items, however making a good effort to save here and save there will allow consumers to cut back on their monthly costs.

Something very interesting is going to be rolled out- the 1st FEMALE test dummy for the auto industry. That’s right- those test dummies that they put in our cars to test the safety of the car, will now include a female. This will help The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration get more accurate results on automobile testing they conduct on our cars. pretty funny that it is 2008 and this is just now being rolled out.
It’s amazing that you can’t open up a business section of a news website, without seeing something new going on with the auto industry. Gas prices, hybrid cars, SUVs, crash testing and also the auto finance industry in general. The other great thing that is happening with our cars is the new safety ranking that is going to be implemented. This will help all of us with a uniform safety rating system, that will determine safety on the potential cars we want to buy. It’s almost like having consumer reports in your back pocket to help you determine the safest car to buy. Once again… another great thing implemented to help out the consumer.
I hate saying it, but maybe this gas and lending crisis is pushing some buttons on some very needy things that had to happen in this world (more fuel efficient cars, lending laws that just don’t allow ANYONE to get a loan, and now some uniform safety standards to protect the consumers). We all know auto finance will be a popular vertical in the lead exchange space, and maybe this is just the beginning of it just changing a little in favor of the lenders, and what they can do with the loans they are giving out.

Once again- glass half FULL or half EMPTY?