E-Commerce

Internet search engine leader Google reported massive quarterly financial gains Thursday, posting a net income of $1 billion in the first quarter of 2007, up from $592 million in the first quarter of 2006, and blowing past Wall Street's expectations. Google's 69 percent growth far surpassed Yahoo's ...

Just two days after it accepted a sweetened merger agreement with a private investment group, Clear Channel announced Friday that it will sell its TV group. Rhode Island-based Providence Equity Partners will buy the group of 56 TV stations for $1.2 billion. The deal is expected to close in the fourt...

They're invisible to most online shoppers, but analytics programs that are combing through every click they make are dictating what their shopping experience looks like. Thanks to a proliferation of easy-to-use and affordable -- even free -- analytics programs, a growing number of merchants are usin...

Internet auction house eBay on Wednesday beat Wall Street estimates by delivering $377.2 million in earnings for the first quarter of this year, a massive 52 percent leap. Despite the strong performance, eBay shares struggled Thursday, falling around 85 cents, or 2.5 percent. The online auction hous...

Clear Channel Communications accepted a new, increased bid to buy the company Wednesday, but there is widespread skepticism on whether the offer will be enough to satisfy shareholders. Clear Channel, the largest radio broadcaster in the United States with nearly 1,200 stations, was offered $39 a sha...

Research In Motion has restored service to millions of BlackBerry users in North America who lost their connections Tuesday night. The company has not said why its network was interrupted over a period of several hours. The "root cause is currently under review," according to a statement. "RIM is cl...

Yahoo reported first quarter net earnings down 11 percent from Q1 of last year as the global Internet brand faces stiff competition from search-based advertising leader Google. Google captured a first-place 48.3 percent of the U.S. search market as of March 2007, compared to Yahoo's second-place ran...

Mega e-tailers have harnessed the Internet with such finesse that their Web sites seem to run on magic. However, the trade is a tricky business, and the options are few. "It's the transactional piece that's the roadblock," says Gartner Research Vice President Gene Alvarez. That is why there are "no ...

AOL is hoping new interactive programs scheduled to be broadcast on its Web portal will snap up valuable advertising dollars that agencies normally shell out on television shows. Time Warner's AOL Internet division on Tuesday announced the production deals for five new Web-based programs in conjunct...

Over the past couple years, the buzz in retail and e-commerce has been all about optimization -- everything from optimizing your Web site for natural search, to pricing and inventory optimization and even getting optimized motion control shoes for running. Now, the hot buzz word is "on-demand," ofte...

In an expected but by no means insignificant move, Google will begin selling 30-second ads to run on hundreds of radio stations operated by Clear Channel Radio. The deal is part of the search engine giant's determined expansion beyond the Internet, and it's one that should bring much-needed revenue ...

Following Google's announcement Friday that it is acquiring online advertising company DoubleClick, its Internet and media rivals began urging regulators to scrutinize the $3.1 billion deal. Microsoft, itself no stranger to competitive complaints both in the United States and abroad, issued a statem...

Devin Gordon's article "Why TV is Better than the Movies," provides good fodder for discussion about the changing nature of the content business, particularly movies and television in the age of the Internet download. Both TV and film face similar threats -- highly fragmented audiences, the challeng...

Online retailers more concerned about getting savvy shoppers to return to their sites versus winning new Web surfers are employing new technologies that enhance -- and differentiate -- their sites. "2006 marked an important inflection point where the primary driver of online sales growth shifted fro...

Chinese government departments, including the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, began a six-month campaign Thursday to eliminate pornography and other material from the Internet in China, according to reports. Some 137 million Chinese use the Internet, second only to the United States. Young Chin...