The Wealth.com and Careers auctions are coming at a time when the economic recession has brought the subjects of career and finance to the forefront of public consciousness. As unemployment continues to grow, job-related search engine queries have become the most popular search category, according to Google Adwords. Along with career-focused websites, internet users are also turning to the web for investment advice and opportunities. The term “wealth,” for example, is searched over 1.5 million times a month through Google, resulting in over 185 million search results in the U.S. alone.

By owning a generic domain that describes a company’s product or service, or a domain that contains popular related search terms, such as Wealth.com, an organization can significantly improve its website’s organic search ranking, while saving money on PPC (pay-per-click) advertising costs.

In fact, several of the world’s leading companies have already successfully implemented this strategy, by investing in premium generic domains and using them to redirect to their main business website. Examples of industry leaders that have deployed this strategy include Bank of America (Loans.com) and Monster.com (Jobs.com), along with quite a few others, like Fidelity (Funds.com) and CNN.com (Money.com).

“Sedo’s Wealth.com and Career auctions will feature highly targeted generic domains that provide a built-in competitive advantage. These domains have the power to dramatically improve company web traffic and search results, while creating instant brand credibility that will last well beyond the economic downturn,” said Jeremiah Johnston, general counsel and chief operating officer, Sedo.com. “The internet has been flooded with searches for finance and career guidance, as the recession has left millions seeking new jobs worldwide, and millions more re-evaluating their approach to wealth management.”

eBay is running a 10-day promotion in which sellers who offer free domestic shipping on Auction-style or Fixed Price format listings will receive 15 percent off their total Final Value Fees. Sellers eligible for PowerSeller discounts may still qualify to receive this additional Final Value Fee offer. The promotion applies to sellers with either a Detailed Seller Ratings (DSR) of 4.5 or higher on all 4 DSRs or no DSR rating and runs from May 23 through June 1, 2009. See website for details and restrictions.

Do you remember the first item you ever sold online? Let us know by sending an email to ina@auctionbytes.com and we may publish your story. Today we hear from Marta and Carl, sellers who tackled the challenges of selling on eBay in unique ways.

What\'s more fun than the thrill of the hunt at a garage sale? That same thrill at an online garage sale, of course! Getting rid of "junk" is cheap and easy using Tagsellit.com, and shoppers can experience the thrill of hunting for treasures without waiting for the weekend. Tagsellit.com has some features that are missing from more established sites like Craigslist and eBay, and it offers sellers the chance to pitch their wares to yardsalers looking to get their shopping "fix" from the comfort of home.

netSpray lets anyone easily create product listings and post them across the web to take advantage of the social networking phenomenon. Sellers can use netSpray\'s portable widget on Craigslist, Facebook, Twitter, blogs and on their own websites. netSpray users can also act as affiliates - selling other people\'s products - or sellers can encourage others to sell their products for a commission.

Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA have sided with the broadcast industry in attacking a petition from tech-company giants to allow them to make use of lightly used "white spaces" spectrum to deliver mobile Internet services, even if they don\'t actually own the frequencies. In a letter to the FCC, the cell phone providers argue for limiting the spectrum for licensed use.

Treasurer John Lenders has released the 2009-2010 Budget, which centres on a record $11.5 billion infrastructure injection to the state.

With the unemployment rate forecast to rise to 7 per cent this year and 7.75 per cent through to 2013, Mr Lenders says it is vital the government kick-starts infrastructure projects to create up to 35,000 jobs.

To fund the infrastructure projects, the Budget is forecasting an increase in the state\'s net debt to about $16 billion by 2013, while growth is tipped to be slow for the next year at 0.25 per cent.

The Budget is forecasting a surplus of $163 million in the 2009-2010 financial year. Over the three years to 2013, the government is expecting that surplus to rise to $349 million a year.

Mr Lenders says due to billions of dollars in additional Commonwealth funding, the government\'s income has escaped the ferocity of the global recession.

"The government support has made the difficult task of keeping a Budget in balance easier than it would have been," he said.

The Budget\'s centrepiece is the fast tracking of job-creating infrastructure projects across the state, with most of the jobs to be created to be in the construction industry.

Other big spending sectors in the Budget are health, education and social services.

More than $3 billion will go to the Victorian Transport Plan to upgrade road and rail networks.

The government will spend $650 million for 20 X-Trapolis trains; $562 million to extend the Epping line to South Morang; $204 million to electrify the Sydenham line to Sunbury; $60 million for a tunnel at the Nunawading level crossing; and $112 million to improve public transport options in the Manningham area.

The government has also allocated $354 million over four years to the Peninsula Link, while $13 million will be spent on noise walls on major arterial roads.

Five million dollars will be put towards buying up to 50 new trams.

Another $925 million is going towards A Fairer Victoria package to assist vulnerable Victorians, including mental health services, disability services, social housing, autism support and assistance for senior Victorians.

Victoria Police will get a record $1.9 billion in resources.

SEOUL (Reuters) - A U.S. nuclear envoy was scheduled to go to Beijing on Sunday for international talks that will likely be the Bush administration\'s last chance to move forward a sputtering disarmament-for-aid deal with destitute North Korea.