In an attempt to draw bookings from third-party distributors, U.S. airlines have been revamping their websites with more user-friendly interfaces and adding additional features like luggage pick-up, specialty snacks (at a price) and choices beyond the traditional seating options.

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State Farm, the biggest U.S. auto insurer, offers user-based auto plans in four technology formats.

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To what degree the French ruling will apply to Google and Dailymotion's operations isn't clear: User-generated video sites in the U.S. are protected by the "safe harbor" provision of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act of 1999.

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Although the growth of IT jobs in the United States is slow, the growth picture is better outside the U.S. The overall number of IT positions in end-user organizations globally will grow at a 4.3% compound annual growth rate between 2011 and 2015 and reach 29.3 million in 2015, according to IDC.

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But in coming years, these services probably will become more user-friendly for typical non-tech-savvy U.S. consumers.

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Unlike in the U.S., in China online video monetizes roughly the same on user-generated videos and premium licensed videos, Wang says.

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Most recently, critics, including some federal regulators and U.S. Congress members, objected to a revamped Google privacy policy that pulls user-activity data from the company's multiple products together to create a single user profile.

CNN: Poll: Google more popular than Apple, Facebook