Business

The future of e-commerce will include beefed-up portals, dubbed "e-commerce brokers," that will offer more than a list of links and a passive handoff to online retailers, according to a report released Thursday by Forrester Research. The report, "eCommerce Brokers Arrive," predicted an imminent ...

Amid a slew of new partnerships and product announcements in the digital music field, Yahoo! said Thursday it has formed an alliance with Duet, a subscription-based music service being developed by two of the world's largest record labels. Yahoo said it will initially market Duet as a streamin...

Just over a year ago, investors were pushing each other out of the way to place "buy" orders for soaring tech stocks. Today, the crowds are forming instead at lawyers' offices. From Amazon.com to Priceline.com, Oracle to PlanetRx.com, a host of once high-flying technology companies has been hit ...

Online travel sites are facing fast-rising competition from the airlines themselves and must move quickly to guard their turf, according to a report released Wednesday by Jupiter Media Metrix. Jupiter said that in recent months, airline sites have gained more visitors and captured a larger port...

Despite an accelerating rate of e-tailer closures, e-commerce spending in Canada increased by 73.4 percent in 2000 over 1999, according to a study released Tuesday by Statistics Canada (Statscan), Canada's census agency. The increase occurred even though five Canadian companies shut down their e-...

Although many government bodies are taking steps to implement online services, a report released Tuesday by consulting firm Accenture concludes they still have "a long way to go." The study, "Rhetoric vs. Reality - Closing the Gap," found that only in rare cases can businesses conduct transaction...

Thousands of UK e-tailers may be breaking the law by failing to comply with the Data Protection Act, a report released Tuesday by the London Chamber of Commerce (LCC) said. The Data Protection Act of 1998 requires that Web sites inform visitors how information that visitors provide will be used...

Troubled Internet consultancy MarchFirst announced Monday that it will lay off 1,700 employees, or 30 percent of its staff. The company also said that it was selling some of its operations to Divine, a Chicago-based Web enterprise software and services firm, in a deal that could be worth up to ...

Under pressure brought on by the softening online advertising market, Internet powerhouse Yahoo! announced Monday that it will start offering premium financial services and content for a monthly fee. According to the Santa Clara, California-based company, the new service will stream unlimited ...

Internet powerhouse eBay is gearing up to move beyond its auction listings base with an e-commerce hosting service, according to a report published Monday in an industry journal. The new venture, which would be rolled out within several months, reportedly would allow businesses to set up branded fi...

Although the number of electronic income tax returns filed through the first week of March in the U.S. rose 36 percent compared to last year, many more consumers are spurning online tax filing methods because they do not provide enough security, ease and versatility. According to the U.S. Intern...

A single act of "economic mass victimization" is likely to hit a broad spectrum of e-commerce customers in the next two years, according to a report released Friday by Gartner. Stamford, Connecticut-based Gartner said that the theft will occur in small amounts over a widespread base and go undetec...

Despite the general reluctance of Canadians to shop online, there are new signs of e-commerce growth in Canada. "Towards the end of this year, we'll really start to see the critical mass (in Canada) starting to adopt online shopping, and on the business-to-business side as well we expect a lot of ...

In the midst of a losing season on the business pages, can high-tech companies swing a ninth-inning rally on the sports pages? Opening Day for major league baseball is upon us, once more putting the spotlight on tech firms who have signed agreements -- for as long as 30 years and in excess of US$10...

Further solidifying its international foothold in the online auction market, Internet giant announced Thursday that it has launched new Web sites in Ireland, New Zealand and Switzerland. According to the San Jose, California-based company, the expansions will enable it to penetrate regional mark...