E-Commerce

Amazon.com and its investors got an early holiday present when Amazon shares were moved into the S&P 500 index, sparking buying interest in the e-tailer's stock. Amazon slid into the S&P 500 slot to take over the listing previously held by AT&T, which is being acquired by SBC Communicati...

Keynote Systems today announced the winners of the 2005 Keynote Performance Awards. Keynote said the annual awards program has two purposes. The first goal is to recognize and honor Web sites across a range of vertical industries. The second goal is to foster an environment of healthy competition am...

Seeking to entice more software developers to work with its platform and to keep pace with Amazon and gird for a potential war with Google, eBay said it will end its practice of charging fees for those who join its developer network. The change offers free access to eBay's application programming in...

In what could be a bid to assuage some of the publishers angry about its efforts to digitize millions of books and a glimpse into a new revenue model for book publishers, Google is said to be weighing a book rental program. Under the scheme that published reports say was pitched to at least one publ...

America Online today said it would become just the latest media company to embrace the Internet as an alternative outlet for television programming, striking a deal with Warner Bros. to offer free, ad-supported versions of classic TV shows online. AOL said it would use Warner content as the anchor f...

Google today announced that its hosted Web analytics service, Google Analytics, is now free. Formerly known as Urchin from Google, Google Analytics is designed to help businesses use performance data to improve their online marketing campaigns and Web sites. Google Analytics is already used by many ...

When it comes to outsourcing customer service tools, some companies have found it difficult to get a positive return on investment. Indeed, cross-channel customers who use the Web and phone independently have posed problems for firms: They drive up service costs, are harder to satisfy, and can't be ...

The success of Microsoft's decision to embrace the software-as-online-service approach, hailed by many as a landmark shift, may hinge on the software company's ability to make the platform work for advertising as well as for distributing software. Analysts say the move to offer online versions of it...

Continuing its settlement spree, Microsoft put to rest another anti-trust lawsuit by striking a US$30 million deal with in South Korean Web portal owner Daum Communications. The portal and ISP had filed a complaint in 2001 with South Korea's Fair Trade Commission alleging that Microsoft had violated...

Less than half the consumers using the Internet feel safe shopping online, according to a survey expected to be released today by Symantec, a maker of anti-virus and security software. The survey, based on a sample of 2,400 consumers, revealed that some 60 percent of those respondents felt less than...

Yahoo said it will pass on a chance to make a formal bid to acquire part of all of America Online from Time Warner, leaving Microsoft and Google as the main remaining suitors for what has become a hotly sought-after piece of Internet real estate. Yahoo said it never made a specific offer, but did di...

Amazon is making moves to beef up its "Travel" section. The behemoth bookseller has signed an agreement with a travel search engine to help its customers find and discover the best travel values. SideStep announced today that it will provide its travel search engine to Amazon's travel store beginnin...

A new report says losses tied to fraudulent e-commerce activity will reach US$2.8 billion this year as professional scammers target fast-growing e-tail sites that are too large to manually verify each purchase but haven't yet implemented sophisticated anti-fraud measures. CyberSource, which offers p...

Hoping to convince more enterprises to ditch existing search tools for its offerings, Google is giving away its Google Mini search appliance to companies willing to make the switch to its high-end search tools for business. Customers who sign up to switch to Google Enterprise will be able to receive...

With preparations for the 2005 holiday season well underway, many analysts are predicting another banner year for e-commerce. Strong growth has become routine for the online sales industry. But some 10 years after e-commerce began to get noticed and several holiday seasons after nudging its way into...