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Reports are circulating that e-commerce powerhouse America Online and auction site eBay are in talks that could possibly result in AOL's taking a minority position in eBay. AOL declined comment and eBay execs weren't immediately available. Though, AOL's CEO Steve Case has reportedly told the Wall Street Journal that eBay is one of the Web businesses he most admires...

The roller-coaster ride that Egghead.com's (Nasdaq: EGGS) stock price has seen in the last year may be on the upswing again, thanks to a deal announced Tuesday with Microsoft and MSN. Under the new agreement, Microsoft's MSN Shopping site will feature Egghead as its primary merchant for computer software, and Egghead will also have an advertising presence on a variety of MSN sites, including MSNBC...

If your Web business has a trademark it fights to protect, raise a glass and toast the people at Playboy. In the continuing fight between trademark owners and everyone else, Playboy has taken things to a whole new level. The Chicago-based company has sued Excite and Netscape (which uses Excite's search engine, among others) for bringing up other c...

SuperMarkets Online seems to be the next company to benefit from the AOL marketing machine. The company has signed an agreement with America Online that will bring the company's ValuPageSM grocery coupons to the attention of millions of additional users, through AOL's main service and AOL's Digital City, a local content network and interactive community guide...

Net.Genesis Corp., a producer of Web site and e-commerce analysis software, announced that it will team up with the Net Perceptions Inc. to offer new e-commerce products and services. The e-commerce software solutions produced through this new partnership will allow large e-commerce sites to interact with customers on a one-to-one basis, to learn their preferences, and then to make specific individualized purchase recommendations to each customer in real-time. The behavior patterns of shoppers can then be analyzed, so that online merchants will be able to further tailor their operations to their customers' preferences...

Everyone needs an Internet strategy, and Federated Department Stores Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, is finally rousing itself into getting one The key to that strategy, announced February 11, was the purchase of Fingerhut Cos., a direct mail company, for $25/share. Fingerhut's been hurt by the rise of Internet commerce, but it does have one hit in that ar...

Conventional wisdom holds that Lycos chairman Robert Davis was taken by USA Networks head Barry Diller in their $18 billion merger agreement this week. But let's take a closer look....

E-Commerce mega-portal site, Yahoo! announced on Wednesday that it is adding services targeted at small businesses in search of entry-level e-commerce solutions. The new offerings augment Yahoo!'s existing small business solutions, and indicate the company's emphasis on e-commerce driven revenue as a major part of its business development strategy ...

High-tech news and information network, CNET has agreed to pay $14.5 million (US$) for the exclusive right to provide computer buying guides on America Online and CompuServe, for the next two and a half years. CNET will also initially be the exclusive provider of free-to-download software on AOL.COM. In addition, CNET's technology news will be integrated throughout the AOL branded services...

If you're thinking you have to spend millions for broadband candy right now, think again. The age of narrowband Internet services is getting a new lease on life, as the Internet goes mobile. That message came from this week's Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) meeting in New Orleans. On Monday Cisco Systems joined Motorola, wh...

Software developer OpenSite Technologies will release Version 4.0 of its OpenSite Auction software next week, on February 15, with a variety of new features. The software helps automate the process of setting up and running real-time auctions over the Web The new version will be available in three different editions: Corporate, Merchant and Profess...

Sneakers and sports apparel giant Nike, Inc. (NYSE: NKE) announced that it began the first phase of its online sales strategy, with a new e-commerce area on the Nike.com Web site. Previously, Nike.com served as an informational and marketing showpiece but, as of this week, the company shifted its emphasis to "direct-to-consumer" selling of products...

Amazon.com was faced this week with severe criticism over featuring books on its site which were paid-for placements posing as editorial picks. A New York Times article revealed that publishers paid $10,000 (US$) per book to be featured on Amazon.com's home page. While paid-for placements of products are commonplace, the issue was one of ethics in informing readers that moneys were paid, rather than the books being selected based on editorial merit...

VF Corporation (NYSE: VFC), the world's largest publicly held apparel company, announced Monday that it will launch an e-commerce site by early Spring, to sell its Healthtex brand online, direct to retail shops. Healthtex, which manufactures children's clothing, is the first VF company to open an e-commerce site for business-to-business (wholesale to retail) sales...

CollegeStudent.com, a developer of campus oriented Web sites, and the National Association of College Stores (NACS) announced plans today to launch CollegeStore.com, a new service for selling textbooks over the Web. The announcement indicates that 300 online storefronts are set to launch by April, with the potential to have more than 1,000 signed on by the end of this year...

As America Online gets further entrenched in its position as the world's largest e-commerce portal site, the company has wisely responded to online consumer confidence issues, by developing the AOL Certified Merchant Guarantee In a special area of AOL.com, the company outlines what it refers to as "Our 100% Guarantee" of customer satisfaction for a...

E-commerce service providers First Data Merchant Services and iMALL (Nasdaq: IMAL) have teamed up to create a "one-stop enablement portal for e-commerce" called MerchantStuff.com. The new site provides products and services that merchants can use to develop their own e-commerce sites Industry Perspective...

Sharper Image Corp. (Nasdaq: SHRP), the popular retailer of high-tech gadgets and gifts, announced this week that its online store has been completely redesigned in an effort to increase e-commerce revenues The truth is, we see these types of announcements every day now, especially from companies realizing they're behind the curve and missing out o...

N2K Inc. (Nasdaq:NTKI), the parent company of e-commerce site Music Boulevard, reported 1998 year-end financial results Wednesday. Though losses were substantial [approximately $17.7 million (US$) for the quarter and $59.5 million for the year], the announcement focused instead on record high sales -- up 331% over last year's fourth quarter -- and a 60% increase in customers...

Internet software developer Open Market (Nasdaq: OMKT) and Lycos (Nasdaq: LCOS) announced an alliance today aimed at attracting businesses of all sizes to build their online stores on the Lycos hub. The move is a strategic step for Lycos in the uphill battle against Yahoo! Stores, which has been very successful in attracting online merchants Today'...