Online job search site Monster Worldwide Inc. asked for permission from the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell 6 million shares of common stock, the company said. Monster, which owns Monster.com, will use the sale proceeds for working capital and perhaps acquiring or investing in other businesses. There will be 118 million shares outstanding by the time the transaction is concluded.

Newspapers’ most recent attempts to weave an auction model into their Web operations take the form of local “events” that last from three to 10 days. Traditional and non-traditional advertisers provide products and, less frequently, services to the paper in exchange for print advertising space. Promoted in print and online, the newspaper- sponsored online auctions act as an additional selling channel for advertisers and exploit regional consumer demand. The auctions create a buzz for in-demand products and generate added awareness for area merchants and service providers.

After years of weaving the worlds of art and fashion into its advertising, Absolut vodka is entering the music business with a CD of club music, according to the company. Called "Absolut Threetracks" the first CD has been distributed to 3,500 disc jockeys at clubs around the world and can be downloaded from Absolut's Web site.

Management consultants Cap Gemini Ernst & Young found only 17% of the 700 U.S. consumers it surveyed in the past six months said TV ads influenced their car-buying decisions. Ads on Internet search engines influenced 26% of consumers. Nearly half, or 48%, of the consumers said a direct-mail offer from a car dealer would influence their vehicle purchases, but the most influential measure was word-of-mouth, cited by 71% of consumers. Cap Gemini expects to release its complete findings this week.

A new, $1-million ad campaign from the Newspaper National Network LP -- the most extensive and expensive in its history -- was set to break today [Oct. 13] in trade magazines and online, and later in newspapers.

As much as 30 percent of the roughly 1.6 billion searches conducted online each week have a geographic or location-specific dimension, according to a survey of search providers recently completed by The Kelsey Group. Attempting to tap into this market, Google and Overture have recently conducted tests of local search applications, and AOL and Yahoo! are increasingly integrating local information into general search results. In addition, earlier this year, Citysearch launched a local paid search product across its nationwide network of city guides.