I have to admit that any story about e-mail marketing and an increase in open rates is a bit baffling. Why? I know how I handle e-mail these days. A quick scan and if the sender or subject doesn’t ring a bell I have developed the Internet equivalent of a quick trigger finger – check the box then flush it with the rest of the e-mail I have no time for. I realize that I don’t represent everyone by any stretch but the amount of e-mail coming down the pike on a daily basis is daunting. As for anything unfortunate enough to hit my spam folder? No hope there. I rarely peruse it and usually just send it packing.

If you work for a smaller paper or you have a favorite local paper that you simply don’t want to see fade into the sunset this is OK news. I can’t honestly say that there is real good news. It’s about the newspaper business after all. TechCrunch reports that statistics gathered by the Inland Press Association show that overall the average drop in profits for the industry as a whole was 77.6%, So how do you find a bright spot in that kind of number? You look at who is floundering the least and go from there.

The sad thing is that even of the economy comes back strong at some point this century newspapers may not even see improvement because it’s the medium, not the economy, which is the biggest culprit in the agonizing demise of a once vibrant industry. The chart below shows just how bad things are for the newspaper industry and there is little hope for recovery.

Google certainly doesn’t rest on its laurels, that’s for sure. They are, first and foremost a search engine, but the success of their search business has fathered so many products that aren’t search related at all it’s amazing at times. Of course, now that everything is losing its beta status Google needs to get something else in the pipeline that will raise an eyebrow or two.

What about an operation system for netbooks? What about a first step toward a desktop OS? Google is all about the browser and the world available to everyone through it. If there is a way to stir up a little conversation around plans of world domination this is a great one. You have your pick of the litter regarding sources of information on this one. The Official Google blog’s intro to this announcement is as follows

Amazon apparently has some big plans for their Kindle e-reader and it involves advertising. That’s right, advertising. After all, what would a good book be without advertising, right?

cnet news reports about some patents that Amazon has filed in the not so distant past that point to a way or them to deliver an e-book with the traditional book. By putting together ad supported e-books and bundling them at little or no additional cost to the reader Amazon moves a step closer to changing the way people read in the future.