This article is about a term used in economics. For other uses, see service (disambiguation).

In economics and marketing, a service is the non-material equivalent of a good. Service provision has been defined as an economic activity that does not result in ownership, and this is what differentiates it from providing physical goods. It is claimed to be a process that creates benefits by facilitating either a change in customers, a change in their physical possessions, or a change in their intangible assets.

By supplying some level of skill, ingenuity, and experience, providers of a service participate in an economy without the restrictions of carrying stock (inventory) or the need to concern themselves with bulky raw materials. On the other hand, their investment in expertise does require marketing and upgrading in the face of competition which has equally few physical restrictions.

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TechCrunch

Finalist In McDonalds/MySpace Jingle Contest Is Former McDonalds Armed Robber
Michael Arrington Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:17:28 -0000
Well, here’s something that’s so ridiculous it couldn’t be made up. McDonald’s teamed up with MySpace to create a new jingle for the 40th anniversary of the Big Mac. The original song (two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce…) was created back in 1974. Over 1,000 user created songs and videos were submitted - the [...]
Pressflip Is A Belly Flop
Michael Arrington Sat, 19 Jul 2008 20:36:16 -0000
Pressflip is a new blog search engine (it’s actually a relaunch of a site called Persai, which launched earlier this year). The idea is you do a search, train the engine by telling it which results aren’t interesting to you, and then wait for new results to come in over time. The search results aren’t [...]
Edopter Attempts “Social Trendcasting” Through Crowdsourcing And Internet Buzz
Calley Nye Sat, 19 Jul 2008 19:47:41 -0000
Edopter is a unique concept that attempts to combine crowd-sourcing with internet buzz to predict new trends. It’s called “social trendcasting.” The way it works, is by allowing users to generate “trends” according to what they think will catch on. Some trends are “cewebrities” (pictured below), “Batman: The Dark Knight,” and “tap water.” [...]
VC Deals In Charts (Q2 2008)—Exits? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Exits?
Erick Schonfeld Sat, 19 Jul 2008 12:22:31 -0000
Second quarter data is out on venture deals from the National Venture Capital Association and PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Despite the IPO market drying up completely, the What-Me-Worry crowd on Sand Hill Road keep pumping money into venture deals at a steady pace. Venture capitalists invested $7.4 billion last quarter in 990 deals, compared to $7.5 [...]
Facebook Sues German Social Network StudiVZ
Nik Cubrilovic Sat, 19 Jul 2008 04:25:27 -0000
Facebook is starting to pursue social networks that have copied their design or features by suing German site StudiVZ. The Financial Times has reported that Facebook filed a suit in the California Supreme Court against the German company for what it claims is an infringement of Facebook’s “look, feel, features and services”. StudiVZ claims to [...]
This Week on TechCrunch Elevator Pitches
Peter Sauer Sat, 19 Jul 2008 02:29:01 -0000
A few weeks back we launched Elevator Pitches, our community video project that allows entrepreneurs to pitch their startups through 60 second YouTube videos. Since then we’ve received a number of pitches covering everything from a fandom portal to a site focusing on group based text messaging. Above, we’ve embedded the most popular of the videos [...]

ENN Investing and Corporate Social Responsibility

Study Suggests Carbon Market Encourages Chopping Forests
The current carbon market actually encourages cutting down some of the world's biggest forests, which would unleash tons of climate-warming carbon into the atmosphere, a new study reported Monday.
Technology Companies Tout Greener Credentials, but Significant Improvements Are Distant
With energy costs high and environmental friendliness making for good public relations, more tech companies are touting ways they are "greening" data centers, which serve up Web pages, swap Internet traffic, and process and store business information.
Westinghouse Seals Mega China Nuclear Deal
U.S.-based Westinghouse Electric signed on Tuesday a multi-billion-dollar deal with Chinese partners to build four nuclear reactors in eastern China, finalising a pact agreed between Beijing and Washington seven months ago.

The Financial Page

Oily Speculations
James Surowiecki Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:00:00 -0000
When bad things happen, it’s always nice to have a scapegoat. So, with Americans furious about soaring oil prices, Congress has gone in search of someone to blame. There are a number of usual suspects to choose from, depending on your politics--OPEC, greedy oil companies, lily-livered environmentalists opposed . . .
All Together Now?
James Surowiecki Mon, 02 Jun 2008 04:00:00 -0000
These aren’t great times for CBS. It’s no longer the network ratings champ; its radio business is dragging; and a recessionary economy is bad news for a company dependent on advertising revenue. So it isn’t exactly surprising that the company felt it needed to do something dramatic. What’s surprising is . . .
The Free-Trade Paradox
James Surowiecki Mon, 19 May 2008 04:00:00 -0000
All the acrimony in the primary race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton has disguised the fact that on most issues they’re not too far apart. That’s especially the case when it comes to free trade, which both Obama and Clinton have lambasted over the past few months. At times . . .

NYT > Your Money

Off the Shelf: Who Wants to Retire Later? (Don’t Laugh)
Sat, 19 Jul 2008 19:14:24 -0000
In their new book, Alicia H. Munnell and Steven A. Sass argue that we may have to work longer and retire later if we want to avoid a decline in our standard of living.
Your Money: Honor Your Word, or This Banker May Call Mom
Sat, 19 Jul 2008 07:03:02 -0000
A look at the local community bank, where bankers try to make prudent loans within the community and try to keep customers from making a mess of their finances.
Update: New Proposed Legislation on 401(k) Debit Cards
Sat, 19 Jul 2008 07:06:16 -0000
Interviews with Senator Charles E. Schumer, who introduced legislation to outlaw using debit cards in tandem with 401(k)s, and Bruce R. Bent, chairman of Reserve Solutions’s parent company.

The Economist: The World Bank and the IMF

What a way to run the world
Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:02:45 -0000
Global institutions are an outdated muddle; the rise of Asia makes their reform a priority for the WestCLUBS are all too often full of people prattling on about things they no longer know about. On July 7th the leaders of the group that allegedly runs the world--the G7 democracies plus Russia--gather in Japan to review the world economy. But what is the point of their discussing the oil price without Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest producer? Or waffling about the dollar without China, which holds so many American Treasury bills? Or slapping sanctions on Robert Mugabe, with no African present? Or talking about global warming, AIDS or inflation without anybody from the emerging world? Cigar smoke and ignorance are in the air.The G8 is not the only global club that looks old and impotent (see article). The UN Security Council has told Iran to stop enriching uranium, without much effect. The nuclear non-proliferation regime is in tatters. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), the fireman in previous financial crises, has been a bystander during the credit crunch. The World Trade Organisation's Doha round is stuck. Of course, some bodies, such as the venerable Bank for International Settlements (see article), still do a fine job. But as global problems proliferate and information whips round the world ever faster, the organisational response looks ever shabbier, slower and feebler. The world's governing bodies need to change. ...
Wrestling for influence
Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:02:45 -0000
The post-war global institutions have largely worked well. But rising countries and growing threats are challenging their pre-eminence THE powerful, like the victorious, do not just write history. They grab the seats at the top tables, from the United Nations Security Council to the boards of the big international economic and financial institutions. They collude behind closed doors. They decide who can join their cosy clubs and expect the rest of the world to obey the instructions they hand down. That is how many outsiders, not just in the poor world, will see the summit that takes place from July 7th to 9th of the G8, the closest the world has to an informal (ie, self-appointed) steering group. Leaders of seven of the world's richest democracies, plus oil-and gas-fired Russia, gather this year in Toyako, on Hokkaido in northern Japan, to ruminate on climate change, rising food and energy prices, and the best way to combat global scourges from disease to nuclear proliferation. ...

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