Articles by Rob Conlin

Number two U.S. automaker Ford Motor Company said today that it will form a joint venture with business software and e-business solutions company Trilogy Software to develop and operate its consumer Web sites The Detroit, Michigan-based auto giant said it will retain a majority stake in the venture. Both companies, it said, will make a "significant...

SBC Communications (NYSE: SBC), the largest local telephone company in the United States, announced today that it will pay $3.9 billion (US$) in cash for Sterling Commerce (NYSE: SE) The Columbus, Ohio-based Sterling Commerce is a leader in the market for electronic data interchange (EDI) software and is transitioning to the Internet as a B2B softw...

Internet grocer HomeGrocer.com announced today that it will pay $60 million (US$) over five years to America Online (NYSE: AOL) for positioning across the online giant's vast network As part of the arrangement, the Kirkland, Washington-based HomeGrocer will be featured on AOL.com, Netscape Netcenter, Digital City, AOL MovieFone and Oxygen.com.

Fast-growing Latin American Internet portal and shopping site StarMedia Network (Nasdaq: STRM) has reached a deal to create a Spanish and Portuguese language online pharmacy with Rx.com Under the terms of the agreement, the Austin, Texas-based Rx.com will launch an online pharmacy that sells non-prescription drugs, vitamins, minerals and healthcare...

Giant cinema chain Cinemark USA, Inc., which specializes in stadium-seating and IMAX theaters, announced Tuesday that it will expand selling tickets via the Internet to 14 Dallas, Texas-area theaters in the next few weeks The company said it already has been operating the service for the last two months in test mode at five of the theaters, includi...

Online auto vendor Autobytel (Nasdaq: ABTL) announced today that it is forming a new venture to sell cars in Australia with a variety of well-known auto industry partners The Irvine, California-based company said it will take a 30 percent stake in Autobytel Australia, which is expected to launch by mid-year. Partners include St. George Bank; the Tr...

Stung by industry-wide criticism over revelations that it compiled and sold user information without proper disclosures, Internet advertising giant DoubleClick, Inc. (Nasdaq: DCLK) launched a public relations counterattack Monday with what it claims is "one of the largest public service campaigns in Web history." At the heart of the matter is Doubl...

According to a study released today by PricewaterhouseCoopers, venture capital funding in the United States increased nearly 150 percent to $35.6 billion (US$) last year, with Internet-related companies drawing 56 percent of that total The annual Money Tree survey starkly illustrates the shift in the American economy from manufacturing to technolog...

Mammoth coffee retailer Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) has launched a conservative foray into e-commerce by announcing a five-year e-commerce agreement with Internet home delivery service Kozmo.com Kozmo will pay $150 million (US$) for in-store promotion across Starbucks' 2,100 retail locations. Among other initiatives, the company will place drop boxes ...

Despite failing to generate a significant amount of campaign contributions, the Web site of Republican presidential candidate and Texas governor George W. Bush has been rated the best among the remaining candidates by a Forrester Research study The survey analyzed the sites of Bush, former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley, Arizona Senator John McCai...

Internet venture capital firm CMGI (Nasdaq: CMGI) announced today that it will pay approximately $407 million (US$) for auction site uBid.com (Nasdaq: UBID) in a stock deal that will lodge the network squarely in the highly competitive online auction industry "Online auctions, both business-to-consumer and business-to-business, are one of the faste...

In the latest skirmish over the complex copyright issues surrounding music sales over the Internet, online digital music provider MP3.com (Nasdaq: MPPP) filed a countersuit yesterday against the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), alleging unfair business practices The suit, filed in a San Diego, California Superior Court, is in respo...

Banking behemoth Bank of America has finalized a record $3 million (US$) auction bid for the domain name Loans.com Domain name auctioneer GreatDomains.com, which hosted the auction, said that the site was sold by a San Jose, California computer consultant. The company claimed that the figure was the highest price ever paid at auction for a domain n...

Two companies with widely divergent strategies are leading the charge to develop the market for selling used cars online One company, Autotrader, Inc., directs buyers to the closest dealer or private seller via a vast database of more than 1.5 million available used cars, while the other, iMotors, Inc., sells directly to the buyer.

Online customer support company Kana Communications (Nasdaq: KANA) and Internet business software provider Silknet Software (Nasdaq: SILK) announced today that they will merge in a stock deal valued at $4.2 billion (US$) Under the terms of the deal, the shareholders of the Manchester, New Hampshire-based Silknet will receive 0.83 percent shares of ...

Software titan Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) and online auction hosting company FairMarket announced the launch today of a business-to-business (B2B) auction site for Microsoft's new small business portal The companies said that the auction site for Microsoft's bCentral portal will offer small business owners the opportunity to buy and sell goods ...

America Online announced today that it has acquired a stake in online rewards and direct marketing company Netcentives (Nasdaq: NCNT) and that it will apply the company's services to two key e-commerce bonus programs The San Francisco, California-based Netcentives will provide the underlying infrastructure for AOL AAdvantage, a frequent-flyer progr...

As consumer fears about privacy invasion threaten to stall the considerable growth of e-commerce, a lawsuit was filed in California Superior Court Thursday alleging that Internet advertising firm DoubleClick (Nasdaq: DCLK) has obtained and sold the personal information of online users The suit, filed on behalf of Harriet Judnick and the citizens of...

Internet network CMGI (Nasdaq: CMGI) announced today that it is forming a joint venture with Hong Kong-based Pacific Century Cyber Works (PCCW) to create and operate a network of Internet businesses in the Asia-Pacific region The Andover, Massachusetts-based network of 60 Internet-related companies said that the new venture will be called CMGI Asia...

As the United Kingdom continued to roil over scandals in the traditional home mortgage industry, online lender E-LOAN, Inc. launched a UK home loan Web site Monday. The Dublin, California-based company, which claims to be the first multi-lender online site in the region, plans to offer over 35 lenders and some 10,000 loan products to UK consumers "...