Articles by Nora Macaluso

Boosting traffic at both shopping and greeting card sites, a record number of Father's Day shoppers went online in time to get Dad a gift or card, according to Internet tracking firm Nielsen//NetRatings Comparison shopping sites saw a huge surge in traffic in the week ended June 18th, the firm said. For example, DealTime, a price-comparison site, s...

According to Goldman Sachs analyst Anthony Noto, a number of limiting factors will likely prevent most e-tailers from surprising investors with reports of stronger-than-expected revenue in the second quarter. These factors include scaled-back marketing budgets, slower retail sales and a cooling economy Many companies have cut back on marketing spen...

With competition for investment dollars heating up, two online brokerages are banking on free Internet access to bring in more business In separate announcements, Ameritrade (Nasdaq: AMTD) and Quick & Reilly said they will use 1stUp.com, an affiliate of CMGI, Inc. that provides other companies with private label Internet access, to make the service...

Just days after announcing that it would lay off some 15 percent of its workforce, online drugstore PlanetRx.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLRX) disclosed that an expensive agreement with a pharmacy benefits manager will lead to lower revenue for the second quarter and the remainder of fiscal 2000 Costs associated with an agreement with Express Scripts, Inc.

Canada-based Nortel Networks (NYSE: NT) and Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HWP) announced plans Monday to develop a mobile Internet service that will initially focus on businesses with employees in remote locations Nortel, which has extensive wireless communications operations, and the San Jose-California-based HP said they will work on "mobile portal ...

The disparity in Internet use among different ethnic groups in the United States is likely to "close significantly" within five years, according to a new study by New York-based research firm Jupiter Communications (Nasdaq: JPTR) Yet the biggest "digital divide" -- between rich and poor Americans -- is not likely to go away so soon, the study indic...

Online auctioneer eBay has expanded into the fixed-price marketplace by agreeing to purchase person-to-person Web marketplace Half.com in a stock deal valued at $350 million (US$) Half.com sellers simply enter the ISBN code for a book or a UPC code for a CD, video or movie, describe the condition of the item, and select a fixed price that is half-o...

Responding to evidence that online brokers do not provide their customers with the best information about risks, margin accounts, privacy and other key issues, the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) is recommending that government regulators require Internet trading firms to post more disclosures on their Web sites The report from the GAO, the no...

MP3.com (Nasdaq: MPPP) announced Friday that it has reached separate settlements in its copyright infringement disputes with Bertelsmann AG's BMG Music and Time Warner's Warner Music Group. The settlements will allow music from the labels to stay on the online music provider's site The two complainants -- along with Sony Music Entertainment, Seagra...

All new mobile phones sold in the UK will be Internet-enabled by mid-2001, according to a report from Forrester Research The research firm projects that as the price of wireless application protocol (WAP) technology continues to fall, consumers will snap up the phones in a "two-year period of hypergrowth." ...

Countering a similar venture led Compaq Computer Corp. (NYSE: CPQ) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HWP), IBM and a group of international computer manufacturers have formed a $200 million (US$) e-marketplace for computer, electronics and telecommunications companies to buy and sell goods and services Other partners in the venture, called e2open.com, inc...

Online grocer Webvan Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: WBVN) said Monday that it will offer consumer electronics, videos, DVDs and other entertainment products as it steps up efforts to expand its reach and boost revenues The move comes just weeks after Webvan said it will expand into the online book sales realm. The firm also rattled the grocery industry with ...

General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) is attempting to draw buyers to its dealers -- and away from Web-based car sellers -- with an online campaign featuring incentives and contests The site, called Ticket to Ride, offers incentives of up to $750 (US$) on each Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, Pontiac and GMC vehicle, as well as sweepstakes to win ...

According to a new report from Goldman Sachs, at least 10 key e-tailers will be faced with the daunting task of raising cash as soon as this year or next Among the companies identified by Goldman analyst Anthony Noto are Beyond.com (Nasdaq: BYND), Autoweb, Inc. and Peapod, Inc. (Nasdaq: PPOD).

QXL.com (Nasdaq: QXLC), Europe' s largest online auctioneer, reported increases in revenue, auction volume and membership for its fourth quarter and year ended April 30th However, the company's losses increased during both periods, as the online auctioneer spent money on acquisitions to broaden its reach and compete with U.S.-based rival eBay, Inc....

Less than two weeks after financial woes forced Boo.com to shut down its operations, the online retailer announced Tuesday that it has sold its core technology assets to Internet services company Bright Station After Boo.com charged onto the Internet a year ago and then rapidly burned through its $135 million (US$) in financing, Bright Station was ...

A U.S. federal judge issued a preliminary injunction Thursday against Bidder's Edge, barring the auction portal from searching the eBay site for auction information The injunction, issued by U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Whyte, will go into effect June 8th. The court granted the motion on the grounds that eBay was likely to succeed at trial on i...

Name-your-own-price company Priceline.com (Nasdaq: PCLN) announced on Thursday that it will offer long distance telephone service through an agreement with several Internet Protocol (IP) telephony industry leaders Net2Phone (Nasdaq: NTOP), Deltathree.com (Nasdaq: DDDC) and ZeroPlus.com (Nasdaq: ZPLS) will participate in the telephone plan, which is...

Internet Capital Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: ICGE) announced Wednesday that it will collaborate with IBM (NYSE: IBM) to form an online marketplace for intellectual properties The new company will use IBM's Intellectual Property Network (IPN) as the foundation for a marketplace that will enable users to search, analyze, buy, sell, and license patents and o...

Toysmart.com, the online toy retailer whose backers included the Walt Disney Company, announced Tuesday that it has closed its virtual doors after a long weekend of speculation The Toysmart site, which had posted a notice that it was closed for inventory on Monday, now displays a short thank you letter to its customers. Orders placed through May 19...