E-Commerce

Visual product configuration software is increasingly allowing consumers to design their own products, from shoes to tattoos, before purchasing them. The ability to design-before-you-buy gives consumers a sense of power and independence -- and it's also just a lot of fun. "People enjoy the build pro...

Google is goosing its still-nascent Google Offers with the acquisition of The Dealmap. The startup, which aggregates discounts from a number of daily deal sites, launched a little more than a year ago, and has already gained a following of two million strong. Google Offers debuted about two months a...

Hulu is launching its first long-form original program this summer, a documentary series called "A Day in the Life." Six half-hour episodes, directed by filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, will feature such people as jet-setting entrepreneur Richard Branson, rapper and songwriter will.i.am, comedian Russell ...

Blizzard's "Diablo III" still doesn't have a confirmed release date, but more details about the action role-playing PC game are starting to emerge, including the announcement Monday that the game will feature an in-game auction house using real cash for transactions between players. There will be tw...

Technology analyst Scott Steinberg answers the question, "What do Netflix's price changes mean for subscirbers, and how stupid is splitting the costs on unlimited DVD and streaming plans?" To sum up, they mean customers are going to have to pay more -- as much as 63 percent more -- to keep the same ...

As recently as just a few years ago, consumers had a limited set of research options when they were looking to make an informed product purchase. They may have done a Google search to learn where to buy the product or noticed an advertisement and visited a store to speak with a sales rep about it. F...

I'm one of the thousands of Netflix customers who were outraged by the movie rental giant's decision to change its pricing structure. No one likes the idea of paying more for less, and no matter how you slice it, that's exactly what Netflix is asking its customers to do. Begrudgingly, I've decided t...

On June 20, 2011, ICANN made an announcement to a packed meeting in Singapore that created a global shockwave. With a thousand delegates bearing witness, ICANN released its long-awaited gTLD program, creating new types of domain names with unlimited potential. The application fee per name starts at ...

We always think the next generation is better. Often that is true -- but too often, it's worse. On the heels of success, too many companies take their eye off the ball. Every year, new and improved versions are introduced to keep us brand-loyal. That works until something goes wrong. Then years of v...

Notorious hacktivist groups Anonymous and LulzSec on Wednesday urged people to boycott PayPal for the online payment system's refusal to facilitate donations to WikiLeaks. The hacktivists set up a Twitter thread, #OpPayPal, and claim that at least 20,000 people have canceled their PayPal accounts in...

Luminate, formerly known as "Pixazza," has unveiled a new platform for image apps. The apps available on the Luminate platform will allow consumers to conduct activities such as shopping, sharing, commenting and navigating directly from the image. The platform can also facilitate new services made p...

Shopping has traditionally involved an element of seeing, touching and feeling a product before buying. Shopping online, however, hasn't ever quite replicated that experience. That is, until now. With the advent of 3D technologies, online shopping is on the verge of a radical transformation. One ne...

Walmart is integrating its video streaming service, Vudu, with its Walmart.com website. Walmart acquired the cloud-based movie service in 2010. The service lets customers buy or rent movies to be streamed directly from Walmart.com or Vudu.com or from one of 300 Vudu-enabled devices including selec...

Online financial services provider E-Trade responded to pressure from stake holder Citadel Friday, days after the hedge fund sent a letter to the brokerage service demanding a review of strategies, including discussing a sale of the company. Citadel requested a vote on a number of its proposals, suc...

Because of power tools like marketing automation, marketers are able to contribute to revenue in a very measurable way. Expectations are high because of this capability -- like salespeople, marketers are now accountable for making a direct revenue contribution to the top line. They are being aske...