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Cost reductions and lower marketing spending helped luxury goods e-tailer Ashford.com narrow its loss for the first quarter ended June 30th, the company said Thursday. Sales were below year-earlier levels, however, as a promotional campaign and an inventory reduction lowered revenue. Repeat custo...

The use of peer-to-peer networking among Internet users -- for example, on controversial music file-swapping site Napster -- is changing the way people exchange information, and companies ignore the trend at their peril, according to a report released Thursday by IDC. Among companies, "the knee-j...

The latest quarterly report from Priceline.com shows that the company has successfully transformed itself from an overextended, money-losing dot-com into an online travel company poised for success, analysts said. Priceline shares soared in morning trading Wednesday, following news that the "nam...

Online travel company Expedia.com announced Monday that revenue for the fourth quarter ended June 30th more than doubled from the year-earlier quarter, saying that demand for the company's services rose as a weak economy led travelers to search the Internet for bargains. The company also reporte...

Securities analysts, once regarded as independent authorities on the value of publicly traded companies, are finding their status diminished amid investor lawsuits and reports of conflicts of interest, particularly regarding cases involving high-tech stocks. Merrill Lynch's recent $400,000 settle...

European online travel giant Ebookers on Monday reported a 91 percent surge in gross sales for the first half of this year, and repeated its goal of reaching cash-flow profitability by the end of 2001 or the first quarter of 2002. "Despite the second quarter being traditionally the second weakest...

Online car company Autobytel reported a revenue drop and widening losses for the second quarter ended in June, saying a weak economy caused dealers to curtail their online marketing programs. New products and stepped-up dealer communications, along with a planned acquisition, should help results...

Pop-under advertisements -- ads that appear in a separate window on a computer screen, then quickly move to the bottom of the screen -- are ineffective at luring buyers to the advertiser's site, Jupiter Media Metrix said Thursday. In fact, said Jupiter, advertisers that rely too heavily on the ad...

This week's investment agreement between Amazon.com and AOL Time Warner reportedly contains language that "leaves the door open" for a possible merger, a merger-and-acquisition attorney told the E-Commerce Times on Wednesday. According to published reports, the agreement -- which calls for AOL to...

FTD.com, which sells flowers and gifts over the Internet and by telephone, said Tuesday that strong online sales led the company to its first full-year profit and are likely to contribute to solid growth in the year ahead. Internet orders accounted for about 86 percent of the company's business i...

Audio content provider Audible.com said late Monday that it will cut 35 jobs -- about 40 percent of its workforce -- as part of a plan to become cash-flow positive by the end of next year. The company also said Thomas Baxter plans to resign as chief executive officer, while remaining a direct...

With the idea of consumers actually buying cars from pure-play Internet companies all but dead, analysts say that real-world car dealers should be accelerating their use of online technology to get more shoppers into their showrooms. Once-promising online car operations have now either merged or...

America Online on Monday unveiled a set of new music products that the Internet behemoth said "lay the foundation" for a range of planned music services, including a subscription-based program. AOL said the new services -- a content site for music fans and a radio network -- will complement exis...

While Napster prepares to relaunch its site as a paid service, Web sites that offer file-sharing services like the one Napster made famous are picking up traffic, according to a report released Friday by Jupiter Media Metrix. The report said that Napster is being replaced by several sites, re...

Online travel company Travelocity reported income late Wednesday of 8 U.S. cents per share -- before special charges -- for the second quarter ended June 30th, topping analyst estimates by 3 cents. After expenses for goodwill amortization and other charges, however, the company ended up with a n...

Compaq, which says its "vision" is to be "everything to the Internet," relies on online advertising as well as traditional media when devising ad campaigns. Mary Bermel, director of interactive marketing at the company, believes the key to an effective online ad campaign is matching the message t...

A slowdown in advertising spending by car dealers will lead to a bigger loss than previously expected at Autobytel.com for the quarter just ended, the online automotive company said late Monday. Autobytel said it expects revenue of US$15 million to $16 million for the second quarter ended June 3...

UK online travel agency Lastminute.com said Monday it has acquired Urbanbite.com, a Web-based company that delivers take-out food in the UK and the Netherlands. Lastminute said it will issue 442,151 shares to pay for the acquisition, valuing Urbanbite at about 140,000 British pounds (approximatel...

HomeRuns.com, a privately held company that ran an online grocery service in Boston, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C., said late Thursday it has stopped service in both markets and is beginning the "orderly winding-down" of its operations. The Burlington, Massachusetts-based company said its "...

Online auctioneer eBay and electronics e-tailer X10.com saw big gains in traffic in June, according to monthly statistics released Thursday by Jupiter Media Metrix. However, the research firm said the rankings are misleading because of the companies' use of pop-up and pop-under ads, which automat...