Business

European online travel giant Ebookers on Monday reported a 91 percent surge in gross sales for the first half of this year, and repeated its goal of reaching cash-flow profitability by the end of 2001 or the first quarter of 2002. "Despite the second quarter being traditionally the second weakest...

Dot-com firms announced 8,697 job cuts in July, the lowest monthly figure since October 2000 when 5,677 jobs were lost, according to a report released Friday by executive search firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas (CGC). "I think the decline suggests that we are in the latter phase of the shak...

In mid-April, two days after Yahoo! announced plans to lay off 12 percent of its workforce in the face of a prolonged advertising slump, fellow portal iWon.com gave an Atlanta, Georgia man a US$10 million prize. While Yahoo! has given up only a tiny portion of its dominant market share to iWon so f...

IBM said Thursday it is now offering over 30 new Web hosting packages aimed primarily at the small-to-medium business market. The fully-managed programs provide pre-packaged, ready-to-operate services for both e-commerce security and infrastructure, the company said. "We're making these (packages...

Streaming media company RealNetworks announced late Thursday that it is laying off approximately 15 percent of its workforce, or 140 employees. In addition to the layoffs, Seattle, Washington-based RealNetworks said it would make "significant reductions in discretionary spending." The company sai...

Online car company Autobytel reported a revenue drop and widening losses for the second quarter ended in June, saying a weak economy caused dealers to curtail their online marketing programs. New products and stepped-up dealer communications, along with a planned acquisition, should help results...

Last week, the Internet Advertising Bureau released several studies backing up the argument that when it comes to online advertising, bigger is better. But is it that simple? Analysts say that while the evidence is mounting that larger ads get results, there are still many unanswered questions, ...

Pop-under advertisements -- ads that appear in a separate window on a computer screen, then quickly move to the bottom of the screen -- are ineffective at luring buyers to the advertiser's site, Jupiter Media Metrix said Thursday. In fact, said Jupiter, advertisers that rely too heavily on the ad...

Vanguard Airlines accused Orbitz late Wednesday of making false statements regarding a dispute over booking Vanguard flights, and again recommended that customers avoid using the Internet travel site. "Unfortunately for the traveling public, the response of Orbitz to Vanguard's complaints appear...

Although online gambling sites have flooded the Internet in a bid to capture a portion of the potentially lucrative market, many users have hedged their bets over concerns that the sites might not be legitimate, according to a study released Wednesday by Greenfield Online. Underscoring the slow ...

Aiming to expand its business with other travel suppliers, Expedia.com announced Wednesday that it has launched the Worldwide Travel Exchange (WWTE), a private booking operation that will provide wholesale travel services. At the outset, WWTE will offer travel suppliers hotel and car rentals, wi...

Total U.S. online spending decreased from US$3.9 billion in May to $3.2 billion in June, an 18.3 percent drop, according to a report released Wednesday by Forrester Research in conjunction with Greenfield Online. Even taking the sputtering U.S. economy into account, Forrester research director Ja...

This week's investment agreement between Amazon.com and AOL Time Warner reportedly contains language that "leaves the door open" for a possible merger, a merger-and-acquisition attorney told the E-Commerce Times on Wednesday. According to published reports, the agreement -- which calls for AOL to...

Internet travel site Orbitz took aim at one of its suppliers Tuesday, accusing Vanguard Airlines of being unresponsive and of colluding with other parties to protect the interests of Sabre, a part-owner of Orbitz rival Travelocity.com. Trouble began brewing earlier this month when consumers expe...

Although the globalization and localization (G&L) services industry has just begun making inroads with some e-commerce firms, it is already transforming the e-business economy worldwide, according to a report released Wednesday by IDC. According to the research firm's survey of 20 G&L lea...