E-Commerce

Web analytics and personalization of Web sites have surfaced as key development initiatives for online merchants, according to a new benchmark report from Aberdeen Group, "Clicks to Customers: The Real ROI in B2C eCommerce." More than 44 percent of firms currently use Web analytics to evaluate custo...

MySpace has launched a pilot project that will help the popular social networking site identify uploaded content that may infringe on someone's copyright. Its new content management and antipiracy system, which it licensed from Audible Magic, can recognize certain uploaded copyrighted content, match...

Yahoo on Monday broadened the nascent world of cell phone advertising by launching a mobile ad platform in 19 countries. The service, which was first offered in the United States in November, allows companies to run interactive advertisements on the Yahoo Mobile Web home page. The company said it si...

The Internet has presented previously unimaginable opportunities for enterprises of all types, including financial services institutions. Online transactions are at an all-time high as enterprises enthusiastically cultivate the Internet as a vital sales channel. Careful examination of consumer beha...

Xerox's legendary Palo Alto Research Center said Friday it would license Internet search technology to Powerset, a relatively young startup that aims to build a better search engine than Google. PARC lays claims to some of the most important inventions of the digital era, including Ethernet, laser p...

Music company EMI Group is reportedly in talks with online retailers about providing its digital music catalog in an unprotected MP3 format, allowing downloaded songs to be played on multiple devices. The company is in talks with RealNetworks, eMusic, MusicNet and Viacom's MTV Networks. This follows...

Change is the order of the day in the m-commerce market. New smartphones and other handheld digital devices are hitting the marketplace in a torrent, as media convergence accelerates the drive toward "quad play" devices and network services. The telecom and media industries are undergoing a fundamen...

Six months after pulling the plug on efforts to become a mobile virtual network operator, ESPN Mobile has agreed to make its video, scores and other content available on the network of Verizon Wireless. The two companies said Mobile ESPN content would be made available to V Cast phones through an ex...

In response to Tuesday's open letter from Apple CEO Steve Jobs calling for major record labels to stop requiring digital rights management technology on music sold online, the Recording Industry Association of America is now calling on Apple to license the antipiracy technology it uses to protect mu...

The vow Tuesday by Apple CEO Steve Jobs -- that he would willingly remove copyright protection from songs sold at his company's iTunes store -- was cheered by those who've been arguing that digital rights management systems are a failure. Advocates for music-sharing freedom said they expect music la...

Click fraud is a growing problem for online advertisers who rely on paid search services. Marketing experts are urging e-commerce vendors have to take proactive steps to combat it. Online advertisers pay the search engine company hosting their ad a set amount of money each time a computer user click...

Wal-Mart Stores has launched a new service providing movies and television episodes for sale online. The company will offer about 3,000 movies and TV shows on the beta version of the online download store, at price points that -- true to Wal-Mart's ethos -- are cheaper than many of those offered at ...

If you've ever watched a late night spy movie on cable, you're probably already familiar with the concept: Access to a highly secured area or object requires two separate keys each in the possession of a different individual. Some financial companies handling sensitive customer data over the Interne...

eBay business unit PayPal revolutionized the payments industry and catapulted e-commerce when it emerged as a credit card processor for person-to-person transactions on auction sites. Today, about half of PayPal's payments volume is from credit cards, but the service also allows consumers to registe...

Apple Inc. has reached a settlement with the company that manages the Beatles' intellectual property holdings, ending a trademark lawsuit and possibly paving the way for Beatles songs to be sold through the iTunes Music Store. On Monday, Apple announced the pact with The Beatles' music publisher App...