Articles by Mary Hillebrand

Busy days of summer play may be to blame for a drop in online sales last month, according to Internet research firm PC Data Online. In a just-released new study, PC Data announced that online buy rates dropped from 4.5 percent in June to 3.2 percent in July. Amazon.com retained its top ranking with a 7.1 percent buy rate, but buy.com, the second-ranked retailer in June, fell to ninth last month with a 6.7 percent buy rate...

A new deal between Compaq Computer Corp. (NYSE: CPQ) and CMGI (Nasdaq: CMGI) promises to give the computer manufacturer's operations executives plenty to do on several different fronts. With a 16.4 percent stake in CMGI -- a "diversified Internet operating company" -- the firm is now the largest outside shareholder in CMGI. Meanwhile, CMGI bought an 83 percent stake in the Compaq-owned Alta Vista search site company...

By adding GO Shop to their network of online family entertainment sites, The Walt Disney Co. is making a major attempt to tap into the lucrative back-to-school market. Parents and students can now visit Go.com, Disney.com and Family.com in order to browse for and purchase the items they need as they head back to school The sites are offering clothi...

Toys 'R' Us (NYSE: TOY) insists the refurbishing of its online store is on track, but that project will no longer get help from well known venture capitalist Benchmark Capital Inc. Along with announcing its second quarter earnings results Monday, the toy store chain confirmed it has terminated its pending partnership agreement with Benchmark, the Menlo Park, California-based company that is known for successful investments in eBay, Critical Path, E-Loan and other e-commerce and Internet-related companies...

A new Web site launching Monday hopes to become the online version of the old "wanted to buy" classified ads. IWant.com is a site that acts as a posting place for buyers to list descriptions of items they are seeking. The site is designed to eliminate the shopper's need to search multiple sites for a product. At the same time, it gives sellers a way to be more proactive -- they can log onto IWant.com and look for shoppers they want to sell their products to, rather than waiting for hits to their Web sites...

The online audio business continues to be a ripe field for mergers, joint ventures and strategic investments, judging by announcements from two audio download companies Monday. EMusic.com (Nasdaq: EMUS) struck a distribution deal with America Online Inc. (NYSE: AOL), while AudioSoft International lined up strategic investments from several computer and technology companies, including Macrovision and Logitech...

Vancouver online auction developer Demand Ventures Ltd. (VSE: DVD) is looking to something much less tangible than collectibles or computer equipment for its next auction Web site. The company plans to launch Knexa.com, which stands for "Knowledge Exchange Auction," September 1st, to put a value on various bits of information and business experience...

Reviving a term popularized in the late 1970s by disco group The Village People, Internet Mall Group Inc. plans to launch Macho-Mall.com this Sunday Unlike the satirical song "Macho Man," Macho Mall is seriously trying to appeal to the many sides of male shoppers, promising "No Foof, No Poof, Just Man Stuff!" In case the studly slogan is not enough...

Books have stood the test of centuries relatively unchanged, except for the minor advancement of paperback covers. Online media distributor Kanakaris Communications Inc., however, is convinced there is a market for books without bindings, delivered via the Internet. The operator of KKRS.net launched two new outlets on the site Wednesday to sell full-length books and movies that can be downloaded to computers...

Leveraging 20 years of success in the cable television business and powerful contacts in the TV and computing industries, BET Holdings is taking its Black Entertainment Television brand to the Web with BET.com. BET Chairman Robert Johnson lined up Microsoft Corp., Liberty Digital L.L.C., News Corp. and USA Networks Inc. to fund the joint venture with $35 million (US$) in start-up money. The partners also agreed to provide millions of dollars in kind support to market the new Web site...

As the business of buying and selling in cyberspace continues to mature, online companies are also adjusting their advertising and marketing strategies to lure increasingly savvy buyers. Companies will not stop buying online ads, a new report from Forrester Research Inc. (Nasdaq: FORR) says, but they will base their decisions more directly on the results those ads garner...

Online toy retailer eToys (Nasdaq: ETYS) has had a presence on America Online (NYSE: AOL) for two years already. Now that presence is going to get a lot bigger -- and more expensive. Today, eToys announced that it has expanded its marketing relationship with AOL with a new three-year $18 million agreement Under the terms of the deal, eToys will be ...

In two separate deals this week, online music service Tunes.com is reaching out to TV viewers and radio listeners in attempts to build up its customer base. Tunes.com announced a deal Monday with Clear Channel Communications to promote its Web site via Clear Channel's TV, radio and outdoor billboard advertising avails. On Tuesday, the company announced a separate deal with Road Runner to create a co-branded music section on the cable Internet service...

Network Solutions Inc. and the U.S. Department of Commerce agreed to extend the test phase of their shared domain name registration project until September 10th. They will also allow more registrars to begin registering domain names, once they are accredited by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers In the early stage of testing, f...

As it prepares to meet in New York on September 14 and 15, the Advisory Commission On Electronic Commerce plans to get public input on the issues of taxation in cyberspace. The group's Work Plan subcommittee, meeting Friday afternoon to develop a list of tax-related issues to explore, agreed to review written comments from organizations, companies and individuals. A handful of respondents will then be invited to testify in person at the New York meeting, the group decided...

A bill to make electronic signatures an official way to bind an online transaction may now make its way to President Clinton's desk before Congress adjourns for the year. The House Commerce Committee paved the way Thursday by passing H.R. 1714, the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act. The bill will now be placed on the full House of Representatives' calendar for a vote sometime after the legislators return from August recess...

Earlier this week, the Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) blasted the British government's eagerly anticipated e-commerce bill. The group claims the proposed legislation's priorities are askew and that it will stifle, rather than foster, the growth of online business The Electronics Communications Bill -- dubbed the e-commerce bill -- wa...

The potential rewards of the growing digital audio business are worth at least $38.8 million to Lycos, Inc. (Nasdaq: LCOS), the Internet's most popular search engine. That is how much Lycos agreed to pay, in the form of 1.1 million shares of Lycos stock, to acquire Internet Music Distribution Inc. (IMDI) The maker of Sonique, one of several MP3 dig...

Does time spent shopping on the Internet count as billable hours? Attorneys across the country now have a new dilemma to wrestle with as Attorneys Online Inc. debuts its new shopping site, America's Legal Super Store. Attorneys Online, a subsidiary of The Publishing Company of North America Inc. (Nasdaq: PCNA) has launched the site as part of a strategic alliance with online shopping mall Value America...

Since some people still insist on going to stores and other public places to take care of their shopping needs, rather than looking online, one of the nation's largest portal companies is taking its services where the people are. America Online Inc. (NYSE: AOL) unveiled a strategic partnership Tuesday with Radiant Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: RADS) to install Internet-access kiosks in brick-and-mortar stores...