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The company that leveraged a single Seattle coffee shop into latte at every corner announced last week that it would launch a "multi-billion-dollar" Internet venture by the end of this quarter. Starbucks, however, declined to specify what this new e-commerce venture would entail, leaving many industry observers guessing. Donuts, maybe? Starbucks ch...

When Congress passed the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act last October, sites that dealt with kids probably thought the battle over this issue was finished, except perhaps for the shouting. Word up, bro'. The shouting has started On Tuesday, the Federal Trade Commission released its first draft of the rules that will enforce the new law. It...

Online community network theglobe.com (Nasdaq: TGLO) is offering a unique way for its users to enter the e-commerce arena Theglobe.com, which boasts more than 9.3 million users, will provide Wave System's new MyPublish e-commerce service to its members. The service will allow users to sell digital content, including images, text, audio, video and s...

Inktomi (Nasdaq: INKT), which develops software to power search engines and e-commerce sites, made another key move this week to expand its presence in the online shopping arena. On Thursday, the company announced that it has signed a deal to purchase 100 percent of Impulse! Buy Network, which develops online merchandising software, in exchange for 900,000 shares of stock...

eBay, Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY), the online auction company that has delighted investors and spawned a horde of imitators, announced on Friday a new personalized search engine. According to the company, the new feature, called Personal Shopper, will allow users to search through all auction items available on eBay's site. The Personal shopper then generates periodic e-mails to notify the consumer when specific items of interest become available...

On Wednesday, Dow Jones & Company (NYSE: DJ), a name that is synonymous with business, announced that they will launch a new Web portal specifically tailored to the needs of business. The dowjones.com site was unveiled at the company's annual stockholders meeting in New York, and is scheduled to open for business by the middle of next month Dow Jon...

Online investment research network Multex.com (Nasdaq: MLTX) has made a lot of noise since it went public in March, and the company announced another significant partnership on Wednesday Multex, which provides free and premium research for institutional and individual investors, has agreed to a multiyear deal with financial software company Intuit ...

CBS (NYSE: CBS) has built an impressive Internet presence with investments in content companies like Marketwatch (Nasdaq: MKTW) and Sportsline (Nasdaq: SPLN). Now the media giant is focusing on e-commerce. Today, CBS announced a deal to acquire 1/3 of Office.com, a destination site for small businesses Office.com, which is owned by broadband commun...

The company that allows you to name-your-own-price for airline tickets, cars, mortgages and home equity loans has just made it easier for travelers in the U.S. to find an affordable hotel room online. On Monday, Priceline.com (Nasdaq: PCLN) announced the launch of its enhanced hotel service. Now it is possible to name-your-own-price and make reservations over the Internet for hotel rooms in all 50 states, including more than 1,100 cities, towns and resort destinations across the United States...

Shares of online broker National Discount Brokers (NYSE: NDB) were up sharply in early trading today after the company announced an agreement with Briefing.com, a leading site for financial markets analysis. The deal will give customers of National Discount Brokers free access to much of Briefing.com's proprietary financial information, analysis and commentary...

On Monday, Cash Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: CHNG) announced a system that could, in theory, allow customers to pay for online purchases with their ATM cards. The company reports that its new EMMA TMe-commerce transaction processing system will allow millions of Web users without a credit card an easy and secure way to shop online "For the first tim...

Fears of the year 2000 (Y2K) computer "bug" have spurred an entire industry of products and services aimed at fixing potential software and hardware glitches before the clock strikes midnight on News Year's Eve. As the deadline draws near, those who hope to capitalize on the Y2K phenomenon are moving quickly, lining up for last-minute profits. The e-commerce industry is no exception...

Go2Net (Nasdaq: GNET) seems determined to become the next big portal site, and the company strengthened its e-commerce presence on Monday by announcing the acquisition of auction site Haggle Online Go2Net will pay $6.5 million (US$) in stock for Haggle Online. Go2Net is taking advantage of its stock's stunning run up in recent months. Shares of Go2...

One of the biggest holes in the Internet business model involves moderators Back in the 1980s, CompuServe had a sound model for paying the people who ran its forums and built its communities. They were given a portion of the online time their forums generated. As the forums grew moderators sub-contracted the work to volunteers, forum members who we...

In a sea of lavishly high-priced neon and metal-framed exhibits at Spring Internet World in Los Angeles, iMall Inc. (Nasdaq: IMAL) "stole the show" -- drawing a huge crowd of visitors to the company's booth. Despite intense competition for the attention of show attendees, newcomer iMall proved that high-quality e-commerce services are at the very core of the global Internet buzz...

While growth in most of the PC market is slowing, there's an exception to the rule. Apple is back Apple announced its earnings this week, and they were pretty good. (Compared to the results at Compaq, they were excellent.) People are taking to the candy-colored iMacs, and Power Mac sales are also growing at twice the industry average, the company s...

The king of the online auction houses is making a big push into the high-end market. On Thursday, eBay.com (Nasdaq: EBAY) announced that it was partnering with upscale brick-and-mortar auction house Butterfield & Butterfield to introduce a new trading category on eBay.com The companies will work together to auction antiques, fine art and collectibl...

Office Depot (Nasdaq: ODP), the world's largest retailer of office products, reported explosive growth in its e-commerce business in the first quarter of 1999, dazzling Wall Street after the end of trading on Thursday, with a 759 percent year-to-year increase in online sales Internet sales for the first quarter were $50.35 million (US$), compared t...

The "changing of the guard" from Mecklermedia to Penton appeared to have had a generally positive effect on Spring Internet World '99, as the Los Angeles trade show was teeming with activity. There seemed to be little doubt about e-commerce emerging as the "killer app" of the Internet, with nearly all exhibitors placing a supreme emphasis on their products' online sales capabilities...

Compaq Computer Corp. gave the stock market a big scare Tuesday. The company said it would miss earnings estimates, and the stock lost about one-fourth of its value. There was fear this might be the start of a real technology slowdown, but when Intel's earnings beat estimates that fear dried-up It turns out Compaq does have a problem, and it's us.