E-Commerce

Research In Motion on Thursday announced its new BBM Music service, a cloud music offering for BlackBerry Messenger. BBM Music enables social and viral music discovery by allowing users to build a community-based library with friends' selections. A closed beta of BBM Music has launched in Canada, th...

Google has agreed to a $500 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice for allowing online Canadian pharmacies to place ads through its AdWords program targeting consumers in the United States. The ads resulted in the illegal importation of controlled and non-controlled prescription dru...

In the fast-moving world of consumer electronics, last year's gaming system and smartphone are old news. Luckily, however, they're not entirely worthless. Electronics recommerce company Gazelle buys this equipment, offering consumers cash, as well as free packaging and shipping -- and then resells i...

In the fast-moving world of consumer electronics, last year's gaming system and smartphone are old news. Luckily, however, they're not entirely worthless. Electronics recommerce company Gazelle buys this equipment, offering consumers cash, as well as free packaging and shipping -- and then resells i...

A U.S. judge has ruled largely in favor of music locker site MP3tunes in the copyright infringement suit brought by record label EMI. Judge William Pauley on Monday ruled that MP3tunes did not promote infringement with its online music storage service. EMI did win a smaller victory, Pauley ruling th...

Gazelle takes your old cellphones, laptops, digital cameras, camcorders, GPS devices, game systems, calculators, e-readers, LCD monitors, tablets, and any other out-of-date electronic equipment cluttering up your home or office, and turns it all into cash. First launched as "Second Rotation" in 2006...

Technology analyst Scott Steinberg fields a viewer question on the latest approach to curbing online piracy: "Internet service providers policing pirates: What is Hollywood smoking? And does anyone really think that this will work?" Not really, suggests Steinberg. Enforcement would be costly and cum...

Gazelle takes your old cellphones, laptops, digital cameras, camcorders, GPS devices, game systems, calculators, e-readers, LCD monitors, tablets, and any other out-of-date electronic equipment cluttering up your home or office, and turns it all into cash. First launched as "Second Rotation" in 2006...

Consumers are savvier than ever. They're also much less likely to be swayed by traditional, in-your-face advertising and commercials. They want, instead, to be entertained and engaged by marketers. In short, consumers just want to have fun. Marketers and e-commerce retailers are, therefore, looking ...

For thousands of years, auctions remained largely unchanged -- until 1995, when a computer programmer posted a single item online. The result: A broken laser pointer found a home, and Pierre Omidyar founded eBay. Unlike its slow-to-change offline predecessor, the online auction has gone through som...

A social network makes changes to its privacy policy. Shortly thereafter, users are shocked to see their names and photos appear in in-house ads. For example, an ad promoting the services of a local printer might include the faces of three "followers" of that particular company. Is this Facebook pri...

In an era when the sting of recession has not yet worn off, many consumers are continuing to look for ways to save a few dollars. One of the effects on the retail industry is the increasing desire of shoppers to avoid unnecessary shipping fees. While many consumers want to be able to purchase an ite...

Google+ challenged its top competitor Facebook on Thursday by adding games to the newly launched social networking site. Google has begun a gradual roll-out of the games, stating they should be fully available to all users soon. Google+ users will have a selection of 16 games to choose from at first...

It just makes sense that consumers tend to trust the opinions and recommendations of friends before they trust those of advertisers, promoters and retailers. Social shopping sites, which combine features of social networking with online sales, seek to capitalize on the sharing and trust that exist b...

For some time now, I've felt almost like the proverbial lone voice in the wilderness questioning the value of Groupon as an investment. My primary issue with Groupon is that there is nothing inherently unique about its business model. Given that fact, I don't understand how a company that really has...