Earn and Spend

Hoping to conquer consumers’ reluctance to purchase content such as music and newspaper articles over the Internet, Berkeley-based Cybergold Inc. has added a retailing arm to its incentives-based marketing network.

For several years, Cybergold’s Web site paid subscribers for visiting advertisers’ Web site. Now, Cybergold subscribers can purchase and download content such as music, software, images and books for as little as one penny.

Sales of items for less than a dollar, often called micropayments, have failed to take off in cyberspace, in part because of the high cost of credit card transactions and the cumbersome nature of purchasing over the Internet. Also, people have been generally unwilling to pay for content over the Internet.

By having a location where people can both earn and spend money online, Cybergold hopes to resolve both issues. The company said it has lined up 20 merchants for its site, located at https://www.cybergold.com.

While e-commerce struggles to grow out of its infancy, the University of California has launched a project to study its economic, social and policy implications.

So far the college system has raised $700,000 for its E-conomy Project, as the collaborative effort among the UC schools in Berkeley, Davis and San Diego is known. About half the money has come from NationsBanc Montgomery Securities, and Netscape Communications Corp. has donated $150,000.

The project aims to develop, through academic research and debate, new business models and more effective corporate strategies. The project is planning a series of discussions among industry, policy and academic participants, with the first, “The Digital Economy in International Perspective,” scheduled for May 27 in Washington.