1.
Coles Supermarkets
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Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd, trading as Coles, is an Australian supermarket chain owned by Wesfarmers. Founded in 1914 in Collingwood, Melbourne by George Coles, Coles operates 776 supermarkets throughout Australia, Coles has over 100,000 employees and, together with rival Woolworths, accounts for more than 80 per cent of the Australian market. Coles Online is the online shopping service. Between 1986 and 2006, Coles Supermarkets was a brand of Coles Myer Limited, later Coles Group Limited, George James Coles learned the retail trade working for his fathers Coles Store business from 1910 to 1913. Coles itself was founded when G. J. Coles opened the Coles Variety Store on 9 April 1914 on Smith Street in the Melbourne, further expansion occurred and Coles interest in food retailing was spurred in 1958 when it acquired 54 John Connell Dickins grocery stores. It then acquired the Beilbys chain in South Australia in 1959 and 265 Matthews Thompson grocery stores in New South Wales in 1960. In 1960, the first supermarket was opened in the Melbourne suburb Balwyn North, at the corner of Burke, by 1973, Coles had established stores in all Australian capital cities. From 1962, its supermarkets were branded Coles New World with accompanying rocket imagery, in 1991, the stores were rebranded Coles Supermarkets and from 1998, simply as Coles. From 1998 to 2003, the logo was seen as, Coles - Serving You Better, from 2003 to 2004, the logo was seen as, Coles - Save Everyday. From 2005 to 2006, the logo was seen as, Coles - Save Everyday, in 2007, the logo was seen as, Coles From 2008 to present, the logo has just been seen as Coles. With various slogans & multiple advertising campaigns in-between, in 2004, the liquor division office, was moved from Chullora in Sydney to the company head office in Hawthorn East, Melbourne. With Coles Myer CEO John Fletcher citing the move for better efficiency between the food and liquor departments and it also resulted in Craig Watkins retiring from the company. From mid 2006, many BI-LO supermarkets were badged as Coles Supermarkets, newmart supermarkets, under which BI-LO traded in Western Australia, were badged as Coles Supermarkets in 2002-2003. Newmart stores co-located with Coles in the area or shopping centre were sold to Foodland. The conversion program was put on hold at Easter 2007, on 2 July 2007, Western Australian based company Wesfarmers agreed to purchase Coles Group Limited for A$22 billion. The purchase was completed in early 2008, in February 2008, Wesfarmers appointed UK retailer Ian McLeod as managing director of Coles Supermarkets plus liquor, fuel and convenience businesses. McLeods previously headed UK car parts and cycle retailer Halfords and gained experience with Asda. In February 2011, Coles acquired National Australia Banks 50 per cent interest in Australias largest loyalty program FlyBuys, in September 2011, Coles commenced stocking private label clothing in their stores with several stores receiving refits to accommodate the range
2.
Abbywinters.com
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Abbywinters. com is a pornographic paysite largely revolving around nude modelling pictorials and lesbian and solo sex acts by female models. It claims all-female shooting crews and prides itself on being at the forefront of the natural, the site was launched in the year 2000 and has since been split into three mini-sites known as Solo, Girl-Girl, and Intimate Moments. Abby Winters originated as an Australian site with Australian participants and employees and it is now based in Amsterdam and intermixes its extensive Australian material, with new material shot since its move. Models wear very little make-up and many have a patch of pubic hair. In addition, the claims that its photos are not retouched in any way. Abbywinters. com in January 2008, had about 30,000 subscribers, despite its history as an Australian site and its enduringly close association with that country, 65% of Abby Winters subscribers are in the United States. In 2010, responding to a political climate in the Australian government on the question of pornographys acceptability in the country. Prior to that relocation, the web servers had already been based in the Netherlands. The website features female models typically between the ages 18 to 25, with the exception of those who are long-time employees of the organisation, of which there are only a small number, almost all Abby Winters models are completely new to pornography. In photo-based shoots the women are photographed in their own homes and bedrooms and/or in outdoor settings, and usually begin wearing their own clothes and underwear, by 2009 there were 1200 models featured on the site, with more than 370,000 images and almost 4000 videos. New content was uploaded twice daily, wired. com writer Regina Lynn claims that the site portrays sex more realistically than most pornography. Customers are able to suggest scenarios on the forum which are sometimes filmed. After establishing a rough scenario for each shoot the team then lets the performers decide how fast the scene progresses. It is claimed that all scenes are filmed by women, some of whom have previously modelled for the site, models are paid approximately US$500 for a solo masturbation scene, and US$800 for a sex scene with another model. In 2003/04, Abbywinters. com deviated from featuring only girl/girl sex by filming six boy/girl scenes, all were claimed to be real couples and, as with the females, the males were amateurs. The site featured a scene in May 2011 and after December 2011 featured one boy/girl release per month. com material. Today on the website the Abby Winters fictional backstory remains prominent, there is no mention that Garion Hall was the founder of Abbywinters. com, and also the founder and CEO of the companys interrelated companies such as GMBill, which is the sites payment service. The company, having moved from Australia and now owned and operated by Dutch company Abbywinters
3.
Airtasker
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Airtasker is a Sydney-based Australian company which provides an online and mobile marketplace enabling users to outsource everyday tasks. Users describe the task and indicate a budget, community members then bid to complete the task, Airtasker was founded in 2012 by Australian entrepreneurs Tim Fung and Jonathan Lui and has raised AUD $3.5 million to date. At the time, Tim and Jonathan were working as part of the team of mobile startup Amaysim and understood the potential in the local. The team successfully raised AUD $1.5 million two months after launch and began expanding its offering to cater for businesses as well as individuals, the company acquired local Australian rival TaskBox for an undisclosed sum in February 2013. Airtasker announced a partnership with Australian jobs listing website CareerOne in July 2013 which gave the platform further exposure to the jobs market. By late 2013 Airtasker had closed a second round of funding raising a further AUD $2 million, bringing total investment in the company to AUD $3.5 million and valuing it at $10 million. The Airtasker process begins when a user posts a job they need completed, other users can post their interest in completing the task along with their own suggestion on the payment amount. The user who posted the task can make a decision on whom to award the task based on the profile, task history. Once this decision is made, the Airtasker platform allows private communication and it is free for users and applicants to join Airtasker, however, once a task is successfully completed and paid, there is a 15% commission charged to the applicant per task. Airtasker raised AUD $1.5 million, acquired 45,000 users, by November 2013 the company had raised a further AUD $2 million for a total of $3.5 million in funds raised, valuing the company at AUD $10 million
4.
AusGamers
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AusGamers is a gaming website based in Australia which provides gaming news, review and other services. It was created by Mammoth Media and its mission statement is To create an Australian go to gaming information site. The idea for Ausgamers was a view to further serve the Australian games community through both online activities and LAN party events. MCVPacific said AusGamers is one of Australias longest running online gaming publications, surviving the first dot-com crash, hosting LAN events and building itself into a one-stop files source. The sites About Page explains AusGamers has existed in various forms since 1996, in 1999, it was formally established as a company, with a view to further serving the Australian games community through both online activities and LAN events. AusGamers is one of Australia’s longest running and most successful gaming sites with many affiliated websites, the site also attracts international users wanting fast downloads and an extensive files archive. More than 30 terabytes are downloaded from AusGamers servers in a typical month, in September 2014, AusGamers relaunched its website and redesigned its logo. MCV Pacific said AusGamers also recently cut ties with media agency MCN in favour of working with You Know Media, official website AusGamers in Virtual Nation, The Internet in Australia
5.
Blackle
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Blackle is a website powered by Google Custom Search and created by Heap Media, which aims to save energy by displaying a black background and using grayish-white font color for search results. Blackle claims having saved nearly 6 MWh of electrical energy up to December 2016, for comparison, the average American household consumes 11 MWh of electrical energy per year. The concept behind Blackle is that computer monitors can be made to use less energy by displaying much darker colors, Blackle is based on a study which tested a variety of CRT and LCD monitors. There is dispute over whether there really are any energy saving effects, especially for users of LCD screens, where there is a constant backlight. This concept was first brought to the attention of Heap Media by a blog post, the homepage of Blackle provides a count of the number of watt hours claimed to have been saved by enabling this concept
6.
Centrebet
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CENTREBET is an Australian bookmaker licensed in the Northern Territory. CENTREBET originated from Alice Springs, Northern Territory and was the first bookmaker to be licensed in Australia in 1993, CENTREBET was acquired by its biggest domestic rival, the SportOdds Group in 2003 for the sum of A$46.55 million. In 2005, SportOdds merged its CENTREBET, SportOdds. com and SuperOdds. co. uk businesses into one entity, michael McRitchie is the CEO of the company while Peter Foot acts as chief bookmaker. The CENTREBET Group offers over 4000 individual betting options every week, the CENTREBET Group has recently commenced expansion of its core operations to include online gaming, including poker and casino. However, due to Australias Interactive Gambling Act, the Group is not permitted to offer gaming products to Australians, in 2006, the company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. In January 2011 CENTREBET acquired the rights to Penrith Stadium. In February 2011 a three-year deal as a sponsor of the St Kilda Football Club was also announced
7.
Sportsbet.com.au
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Sportsbet. com. au, also known as Sportsbet, is an Australian online bookmaker, and as of 2012 was Australias biggest corporate bookmaker. Sportsbet was established in 1993 and was Australias first licensed bookmaker, since 2009 it has been owned by Irish company Paddy Power, but it continues to be run as a separate entity. In 2005, Matthew Tripp bought Sportsbet, a bookmaker based in Darwin, Australia. He expanded it from 8 employees to 250 and this coincided with a rise in popularity for phone and online gambling in Australia at a time when face-to-face bookmakers were losing customers. Sportsbet widened its customer base beyond traditional gamblers, striking exclusive advertising deals with Seven and Ten networks and its expansion was helped by a 2008 High Court ruling that allowed the firm and others based in the Northern Territory to advertise in the more populous eastern states of Australia. In May 2009 51% of Sportsbet. com. au was acquired by Irish bookmaker Paddy Power, the company would keep the name Sportsbet and continue to be run separately, but would offer additional services. This takeover then allowed Sportsbet. com. au to acquire rival betting company International All Sports Limited, ran by Mark Read, in 2011 Paddy Power completed its acquisition of Sportsbet. com. au, paying 132. 6m Australian dollars for the remaining 39. 2% share. This represented a theoretical valuation of the company as worth $338m, since April 2013, Sportsbet. com. aus chairman is Patrick Kennedy, replacing Matt Tripp who was previously CEO of Sportsbet from 2005 to 2011. Its current CEO is Cormac Barry, one of the team that set up paddypower. com in 2000, he joined Sportsbet. com. au in 2009 as commercial director. He became CEO in 2011 after Paddy Power completed their acquisition of the company, official website Sportsbet on Facebook Sportsbet on Twitter
8.
Webjet
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Webjet Limited is a travel booking website offering flights, hotels, holiday packages, cruises, car hire, travel insurance and travel deals. The company has operations in Australia, New Zealand, North America, Singapore, in June 2016, Webjet acquired Online Republic for $59 million, a move to strengthen its presence in the online travel space worldwide. Established in 1998, Webjet was founded by former Jetset Travel Chief Executive David Clarke, the company was publicly listed on the ASX in 2000 through a reverse takeover deal with Roper River Resources NL. In May 2001, Webjet became 100% automated, allowing customers to complete their bookings online, before launching a WAP website in May 2002 for mobile phones and offering SMS customer support. Webjet announced their plans to open their New Zealand website, Webjet. co. nz on 21 July 2004, in 2005, Webjet won the number 1 position for travel agency websites according to Hitwise. In December 2008, Webjet expands its business and launches Webjet. co. uk for customers in the United Kingdom, in 2007, Webjet made a bid for the website Travel. com. au valued at approximately $42.3 million. The deal failed following a bid from Wotif. com which valued Travel. com. au at approximately $49.8 million. On 30 June 2010 it was announced that Webjet had entered into a Joint Venture with Westminster Travel in Asia to initially cover the establishment of Webjet in Singapore and Hong Kong. In April 2010, Webjet. com is launched and the brand makes its entrance into the United States online travel agency market and this is followed by the launch of Webjet. ca in Canada in December 2010. In August 2010, Webjet launches their first iPhone app, available on iOS devices, a travel app for Android devices was later released in February 2015. In August 2010, it was announced that the board of Webjet would be restructured, with the chairman, Allan Nahum, stepping down from his role, Webjet said the restructuring was to help the best possible balance of executive and non-executive directors. John Guscic assumed the role of Managing Director for Webjet on April 1,2011, while former Managing Director and founder David Clarke assumed the role of Non Executive Chairman. Upon assuming the role of Managing Director, Guscic claimed that Webjet would have a focus on securing more hotel business.7 million. The record profits were realised in the period as an operating loss of $700,000 for Webjets markets in the United States. Due to the profits, a dividend of six cents per share was paid to investors in October 2011. In April 2012, Webjet also partners with Australian loyalty program flybuys, later that year in July, Webjet. com. au enters into its first international franchise agreement with BidTravel in South Africa. In October 2012, Webjet expands its on-site offering by launching holiday packages, combining flights, in December 2012, Webjet announced it had entered agreements to acquire Zuji in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore. The deal was described as allowing Webjet to substantially expand its presence in Asia, the acquisition was completed on 22 March 2013
9.
Google Search
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Google Videos is a video search engine from Google. It was formerly a free video-sharing website and allowed selected videos to be embedded on other websites and provided the necessary HTML code alongside the media. This allowed websites to host lots of video remotely without running into bandwidth or storage-capacity issues, the service was launched on January 25,2005. On October 9,2006, Google bought former competitor YouTube, Google announced on June 13,2007, that the Google Videos search results would begin to include videos discovered by their web crawlers on other hosting services, in YouTube and user uploads. Thereafter, search result links opened a frameset with a Google Videos header at the top, in 2009, Google discontinued the ability to upload videos to Google Video. Google Video was shut down on August 20,2012, the remaining Google Videos content was automatically moved to YouTube. The domain previously associated with Google Videos is now used to store videos uploaded to Google Photos. Google Videos was geared towards providing a large archive of freely searchable videos, besides amateur media, Internet videos, viral ads, and movie trailers, the service also aimed to distribute commercial professional media, such as televised content and movies. A number of discourses by Google employees were recorded and made available for viewing via Google Videos. The lectures were done mainly at the former universities. The topics covered Google technologies and software engineering but also include other pioneering efforts by players in the software engineering field. On January 6,2009, the Google Video Store launched to sell downloads through Google Videos. The service launched with independent films Aardvarkd,12 Weeks with Geeks, and Waterborne, as well as content from media partners CBS, the NBA, The Charlie Rose Show, and Sony BMG. Initially, the content of a number of broadcasting companies was available as streaming content or stills with closed captioning. In addition, the U. S. National Archive used Google Videos to make historic films available online, Google Videos also searched other non-affiliated video sites from web crawls. Sites searched by Google Videos in addition to their own videos and YouTube included GoFish, ExposureRoom, Vimeo, Myspace, Biku, Google Videos moved away from an online video archive and toward a search engine for videos, similar to their web and image searches. As of August 2007, the DTO/DTR program ended, users who previously purchased a video from Google Videos were no longer able to view them. Credits for users were made available as values for Google Checkout and were valid for 60 days, in 2009, Google ended the ability for users to upload videos to Google Videos