E-Commerce

Become.com is vying to become the next mySimon.com. That's either fitting or ironic, seeing as Michael Yang and Yeogirl Yun, the team behind online comparison shopping pioneer mySimon.com, are Become.com's founders. Become.com indexes over 2.2 billion pages of shopping-related information from over ...

The Internet is helping to change the face of tax season, with as many as half of all U.S. taxpayers expected to use a free Web service to file their tax returns this year. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said that its free E-File program is on pace to grow some 44 percent over last year's record...

In a move to enhance its search and advertising businesses, Yahoo announced today it would offer free Web hosting to small businesses. The Internet company said any small business can sign up for a free Web page that will appear in Yahoo's Local directory. Yahoo Local general manager Paul Levine sai...

"I want my MTV" is being replaced with, "I want my Xbox," as Microsoft plans to unveil the second version of its Xbox video game console with a half-hour MTV television show hosted by "Lord of the Rings" star Elijah Wood next month. Although gaming enthusiasts still do not know the name of Microsoft...

In a bid to drill into two fertile growth markets with a single service, Google has unveiled a version of its local search tool designed specifically for users of mobile devices. The mobile version of Google Local went live this week and seeks to extend many of the same features available at the Web...

During the last century, mega corporations throughout the world followed the prime rules of building corporate image and name identity in the strictest sense. Their goal was simply to achieve an elite, world-class image by having their name and logo brightly displayed on skyscrapers in every city. T...

Looking to spark growth in what has proven to be a relatively difficult market niche to crack and to provide boosts to their respective bottom lines, America Online and XM Satellite said they would team to create a new online radio service. The co-branded service, to be available this summer, will i...

In a move that is seen hastening the alignment of the Internet into deep vertical segments based on relatively narrow content parameters, the Web's governing body has cleared the way for two new top-level domains exclusively for jobs and travel information. The International Corporation for Assigned...

Looking for a Web hosting service provider? All vendors are not created equal. A little consumer education goes a long way toward ensuring you get a host that offers the right combination of products and services -- and at the right price. "There are so many Web hosting providers out there today," s...

In a closely watched case with potentially far-ranging implications about Internet governance, the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled that the U.S. can set certain limits on Web gambling sites located in offshore locations. The decision was seen as a partial reversal of last November's ruling agai...

Microsoft today released MSN Spaces and Messenger version 7.0 to the public, and with new initiatives designed to connect advertisers with target customers through the services, users may get more than they bargained for. The software company plans to integrate ads into users' personal Spaces -- fre...

A new breed of news aggregators could provide Web users with personal control over their content feeds and force portals and other e-commerce companies that rely on content to reach their audience to rethink their approaches. While the jury is still out on the eventual impact of Web logs, or blogs, ...

Google has rolled out a round of price cuts on its enterprise search family of products, even as it boosts the search capacity of its two main product lines in a bid to appeal to more smaller and mid-sized businesses. The Google Mini, a search box first made available in January, will be cut in pric...

Striking off in new directions as it seeks ways to stay ahead of the growing pack in the search industry, Google has unveiled a feature that gives users the ability to see satellite imagery when they view maps and also said it would collect personal video clips for a new service it's testing. The sa...

Placing a bet that the book-making industry will move away from traditional publishing methods to embrace the efficiencies of the Web, Amazon.com said it has purchased a privately held print-on-demand publisher. Amazon paid an undisclosed sum to acquire BookSurge, a Charleston, S.C.-based firm that ...