Archive

Let's say that the time has come for your closely held corporation to take the next step for growth and credibility -- the choosing of a board of directors. Or, let's say that you are a major shareholder in a publicly held company and are concerned about whether your corporation is in compliance wit...

In the research my company does to benchmark the customer experience provided by the top Web sites in various vertical industries, we suggest best practices and ways to find out what works and what does not for a company's online customers. Often, when speaking with prospective customers about syndi...

America Online is trying to block the bait in phishing scams, announcing today that it will seek to identify bogus sites and prevent its users from gaining access to them. AOL will work with Cyota, an anti-fraud and security company, to implement the plan, which will operate 24 hours per day. Phishi...

Sony Online Entertainment Inc. today announced plans to launch Station Exchange, an officially sanctioned auction site for its games. Station Exchange, which will debut in late June, will be an official, secure way for subscribers to the company's EverQuest II online game to buy and sell the rights ...

Millions of entrepreneurs and thousands of account executives from major ad agencies all over the world are losing their sleep these days, most sleepwalking in search of new names with some extra "OO"s to ride along with the success of Google's name. During the day, they daydream about coming as clo...

In a move to enter into the European enterprise retail services market, Amazon.com and leading United Kingdom retailer Marks & Spencer today released details of an e-commerce alliance. The announcement also officially introduces Amazon Services Europe, the dot-com's Luxembourg-based subsidiary. ...

Traditional broadcasting giant Viacom, which reported lackluster earnings from its over-the-air properties such as CBS and UPN, said today it is looking more to cable and the Internet, where the company sees greener pastures for its content and bottom line. For its first quarter 2005 financial resul...

America Online today announced that it has reached agreements with Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group to bring thousands of music videos to AOL Music, which reaches more than 22 million music fans a month. AOL spokesperson Ann Burkart told the E-Commerce Times that the deal enhances the In...

Starting this month, Ingenio is teaming up with AOL Search to provide businesses nationwide a new marketing strategy that combines the Internet and the telephone. Called Pay Per Call, the strategy offers the power of Internet pay-per-click marketing to small businesses in their own regions. The new ...

In what marks the biggest ever deal in the content creation and Web development sector, Adobe Systems today announced it would acquire Macromedia in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately US$3.4 billion. The company said the merger will allow Adobe to meet a wider set of customer needs and...

Become.com is vying to become the next mySimon.com. That's either fitting or ironic, seeing as Michael Yang and Yeogirl Yun, the team behind online comparison shopping pioneer mySimon.com, are Become.com's founders. Become.com indexes over 2.2 billion pages of shopping-related information from over ...

The Internet is helping to change the face of tax season, with as many as half of all U.S. taxpayers expected to use a free Web service to file their tax returns this year. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said that its free E-File program is on pace to grow some 44 percent over last year's record...

Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson became the latest high-profile technology company to disappoint investors with its first quarter earnings report, saying today that low-price handsets from competitors was pinching its profits. Sony Ericsson said it earned US$41 million in the first quarter, a 61 per...

A critical path to growth for any company is the creation of business proposals that ultimately are accepted by prospective customers. Unfortunately, it has been my experience that many proposals are poorly prepared and lose site of both their goal (to secure a sale) and their audience (the prospect...

Tens of thousands of people who want to wipe out their debts in bankruptcy court would have to work out repayment plans instead under legislation Congress approved Thursday. A 302-126 vote by the House sent the legislation to President Bush, who said he was eager to sign the measure, the biggest rew...