TechBits package

Kiva.org has spent the past 3 1/2 years raising money on the Internet to finance destitute entrepreneurs in 44 impoverished countries. Now in a sign of the economy's spreading despair, the online "microlender" is reaching out to low-income entrepreneurs in the United States.

The expansion kicks off Wednesday when Kiva will let needy U.S. small businesses vie for funding alongside a melting pot of cash-starved entrepreneurs that includes everything from a Cambodian fisherwoman to a Moldovan butcher to a Bolivian taxi driver.

The U.S. listings will start with about 45 businesses in Boston, New York, Miami, Atlanta and San Francisco.

Kiva didn't intend to raise money for aspiring businesses in the world's largest economy. But the reluctance of U.S. banks to lend during the past nine months caused the San Francisco-based nonprofit to reconsider, said Premal Shah, Kiva's president.

Kiva relies on "crowd-funding" to make its loans. People come to its Web site, sift through the business plans of entrepreneurs and then contribute in $25 increments. The money is pooled to finance loans that typically range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars. The repayments don't include interest; people either get their original $25, keep it in the lending pot or donate toward Kiva's administrative expenses.

Since 2005, Kiva has raised more than $75 million from 500,000 people and lent the money to about 180,000 entrepreneurs in 44 countries. About 98 percent of the loans have been repaid on time, Shah said.

Although there is little doubt that the credit crunch is stifling the growth of U.S. small businesses, Shah said some of Kiva's staffers remain convinced the loans are needed more in poorer countries.

"It will be interesting to see if someone from South Central Los Angeles will be able to get a loan on our site more quickly than a small business in south Sudan," Shah said.

_ Michael Liedtke, AP Technology Writer

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On the Net:

http://www.kiva.org

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Bing swing: New search engine ups Microsoft share

SEATTLE (AP) _ In the week since Microsoft Corp. launched Bing, its new search engine, the software maker's share of U.S. Web searches has crept into double digits for the first time in two years.

But Bing's early gain is no predictor of future success. After all, the last time that happened, Microsoft had resorted to paying people to use Bing's predecessor, known as Live Search.

Bing went live June 3, though some people had access earlier. According to a report Tuesday from research group comScore Inc., Microsoft snagged 11.1 percent of U.S. searches from June 2 to June 6. A week earlier, its share was 9.1 percent.

That still leaves Microsoft a distant third behind Google Inc., which was used for more than 60 percent of searches in April, and Yahoo Inc., which topped 20 percent. ComScore did not release more recent figures for those companies.

Search traffic is key because advertisers who place pitches alongside search results will pay more to reach a larger audience. This is the key to Google's profits, while Microsoft's online business is losing money.

Microsoft has tried several tactics to narrow the gap with Google, including the drawn-out but unsuccessful attempt to buy Yahoo.

In June 2007, Microsoft launched the "Live Search Club," a Web site where people could play games, rack up points and redeem them for prizes. Every move in an anagram game or a crossword puzzle would kick off a search on Microsoft's site.

That month, Microsoft's U.S. search share jumped to 12.2 percent, from 9.5 percent in May 2007, according to comScore. But by October 2007 it had fallen below 10 percent. And it remained there until Bing's heavily promoted launch last week.

Microsoft had no comment on the new analysis from comScore.

_ Jessica Mintz, AP Technology Writer

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Radio owner Clear Channel amps up digital strategy

PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ Clear Channel Communications Inc., the nation's largest owner of radio stations, is ramping up its strategy to stream radio to mobile phones, computers and other devices.

On Monday, Clear Channel was officially launching an online media player that consolidates access to its roughly 850 radio stations at IHeartRadio.com. The player also serves as a streamlined showcase for advertisers _ including full-page ads with interactive "widgets" that can be embedded in blogs.

Clear Channel already has an IHeartRadio mobile app, which once was the top application downloaded for the BlackBerry and now is among the top 10.

As traditional radio advertising revenue falls, Clear Channel hopes to offset the slide with Internet and mobile ads. Clear Channel charges traditional radio advertisers extra to reach an Internet and mobile crowd _ and hopes to attract advertisers who have never bought radio ads.

"We're constantly investing to stay in the cutting edge to grow our audience base," said Evan Harrison, president of Clear Channel's digital division.

But Moody's analyst Neil Begley said Internet ads will be hard-pressed to replace radio ads: "There is a limitless inventory out there and the rates are pretty low."

The digital properties of San Antonio-based Clear Channel account for about 5 percent of overall revenue, which it estimated at $3.5 billion for 2009. Clear Channel went private after a $17.9 billion buyout last year by Bain Capital Partners and Thomas H. Lee Partners, which also assumed $5.9 billion in debt.

_ Deborah Yao, AP Business Writer

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Facebook, like MySpace, lets users show full name

NEW YORK (AP) _ Facebook is further embracing the real name culture it touts as one of its founding principles _ and catching up with rival MySpace in the process.

Starting at 12:01 a.m. EDT on Saturday, the popular online hangout's millions of users will be able to claim a name to use as part of their profile page's Web address _ as in http://facebook.com/janedoe. Currently Facebook assigns each profile a string of numerals over which users have no control.

Fan pages for businesses, brands and celebrities will be able to adopt such names, too, but they had to have been on the site by May 31, with at least 1,000 "fans" at that time.

Facebook said people will be able to choose the names on a first-come, first-served basis, so if your name is John Smith and not, say, Blaise DiPersia (a Facebook designer who posted about the changes on the site's blog), it might be a good idea to stake one out early.

To avoid "squatting" on popular names, only users who joined Facebook before 3 p.m. Tuesday will be able to sign up for usernames on Saturday. Everyone else will have to wait until June 28.

In allowing such names, Facebook is playing catch-up with News Corp.-owned MySpace, which has let its users pick their own monikers since its 2004 launch. MySpace says about 90 percent of its active users have set up such "vanity URLs."

_ Barbara Ortutay, AP Technology Writer

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IAC to shutter Web site aimed at black community

NEW YORK (AP) _ IAC/InterActiveCorp will shut down the year-old RushmoreDrive, a search engine geared toward the black community.

Spokeswoman Stacy Simpson said Wednesday that the Barry Diller-led Internet services company will close the site Friday after an unsuccessful effort to sell it. She also said that Johnny Taylor, the site's chief executive, has resigned.

IAC rolled out RushmoreDrive with much fanfare in April 2008, calling it a "first-of-its-kind" search engine. It mixes search, news and job results with links to sites targeted specifically at the black community and user-generated content.

The site was the first under IAC's Black Web Enterprises Inc., of which Taylor was also the head. Simpson said Black Web Enterprises will also close.

Simpson said the closure was part of IAC's ongoing effort to streamline its emerging businesses unit, which includes a mix of Web properties like retail site Shoebuy and news site The Daily Beast.

RushmoreDrive is the latest Web property that IAC is shedding this year. It sold comedy site 23/6 and campground reservation site ReserveAmerica in January.

IAC's peers, including Yahoo Inc., Google Inc. and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL LLC, also have been dropping some of their least popular services.

The shutdown will affect 17 employees, most of whom will be laid off. Simpson says the company notified RushmoreDrive employees on Monday of the impending closure.

_ Rachel Metz, AP Technology Writer

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