Priceline most popular holiday travel site

** Bertelsmann AG_s BMG Entertainment music label has made an equity investment in nine-month old Silicon Valley Web company, Riffage.com , whose Web site promotes relatively unknown musicians and unsigned bands. Other investors include America Online (AOL) and several investment firms. Riffage.com chief executive Ken Wirt said the $21 million of new investment would be used to enhance the site_s filtering and personalization functionality for users interested in downloading music files. Wirt welcomed the involvement of BMG, one of the majors in the music business, telling Reuters, "Initially the music guys were nervous of this, but eventually they came around." Kevin Conroy, BMG Entertainment senior vice president, said, "BMG is committed to using the Internet to provide greater exposure for our artists and to create a digital connection between our artists and their fans." ** With 3.2 million unique home visitors in November, Priceline.com (PCLN) emerged as the top site for US Internet users shopping for information on Thanksgiving holiday air travel, according to a study released by PC Data Online. Travelocity.com and Expedia.com (EXPE) followed with 2.8 million unique visitors (8 percent increase) and 2.1 million (6 percent increase). The study also revealed that most home Internet users reserved their Holiday flights through direct channels as opposed to travel agents. Thirty- two percent booked flights online, while 31 percent booked flights by telephone directly through an airline. Twenty percent booked through a travel agent. "Thanksgiving air ticket sales reinforced that direct booking -- whether online or by telephone direct to an airline -- is eliminating the middleman in air transportation," said Jeff Moulton, Internet analyst for Reston, Va.-based PC Data Online. ** CMGI (CMGI) said it will acquire Yesmail.com(YESM), a company which uses e-mail for marketing and promotions. Chief executive officer David Wetherell said his company would pay $500 million in CMGI stock for the promotion company, saying the acquisition "is an extension of our firm belief in the phenomenal value of the Internet as the ultimate direct marketing channel." Circuit City Stores (CC) said it will promote America Online_s (AOL) services in its 615 stores, and also become an anchor tenant in AOL_s e-commerce areas.