commerce

Are you one of the millions who visits icanhascheezburger.com every month? The site is well known for its user-generated lolcats, the pictures (usually of cats) with humorous captions thrown on top. Earlier this month, the site unveiled its latest swag, a tried and true 1990s relic: magnetic poetry. The twist is that the words follow popular lolcat memes and have been made to emulate their Web counterparts with the proper white impact font.

Our shipment of magnets arrived earlier this morning and have been privy to some rather humorous concoctions. The best use of these I'm told is … Read more

If you're not one of the cool kids with a Kindle, the good news is that paper books are still quite popular and less likely to be taken at gunpoint by muggers. The sad truth is that browsing through them on the Web is not nearly as fun as loitering in a bookstore (or on the Kindle), which is why Zoomii was created.

Zoomii is a virtual bookstore with simple bookshelves that highlight Amazon.com's massive collection. It's set up to work just like Google Maps. You can zoom in and out, and simply drag your mouse … Read more

Bon appetit for Cooking.com: The kitchen appliance retailer announced Wednesday that it has pulled in $13 million in venture funding in a round led by Azure Capital Partners. ORIX Venture Finance also contributed venture debt to the round, and Azure partner Michael Kwatinetz is now on the company's board of directors.

The new cash will be used toward a variety of goals at Cooking.com: expand editorial and social-networking operations on the site (a sound decision when it seems like everyone can't stop talking about Bobby Flay and Mario Batali), opening a new distribution center in Ohio, … Read more

This post was updated at 11:56 AM with comment from Microsoft.

Chalk one point up to Craigslist: Microsoft has decided to shut down Windows Live Expo, the classifieds service that it originally launched in February 2006.

Expo will disappear on July 31, a notice on the site explains. Until then, no new listings can be posted or extended, and no new accounts can be created. Microsoft representatives responded on Friday with a statement from the company: "We have learned a tremendous amount from our experience with Windows Live Expo and believe this decision, while a hard one, will … Read more

I love things that save me money when shopping online. While PriceGrabber and Google Shopping are my two go-to sites for finding the lowest prices on electronics, tons of sites track prices and give the heads-up when something goes on sale or gets its price reduced.

There's also PriceAdvance, a browser plug-in that will pull up competing prices from other online sellers automatically whenever you hit a page with a product and price on it. Its latest iteration for Firefox and IE doubles the number of prices it shows you compared with the previous version.

Right now it only … Read more

Discount online retailer Overstock.com announced on Thursday that it will be selling its products outside the United States for the first time.

"We're actually right smack dab in the middle of integrating," Jake Bailey, Overstock's director of international sales, said in an interview with CNET News.com on Thursday. No final date has been given for the launch of international sales, but Bailey said it will be before the end of 2008.

The Salt Lake City, Utah-based company has inked a deal with E4X, which runs a service called FiftyOne Global Ecommerce. The partnership has … Read more

Update 9:45 a.m. PDT: Added details about the company's venture capital funding.

Wigix Chief Executive James Chong is nothing if not ambitious: he thinks he's got the recipe for an Internet marketplace that will rival eBay.

Chong, who was the architect of Charles Schwab's online trading platform, believes eBay's design is best suited to auctions of collectible, one-off items. But for those buying Sony PlayStations, digital cameras, or other mass-manufactured items, he thinks Wigix--"Want It Got It Exchange"--has the better approach.

Wigix plans to launch the public beta of its … Read more

WASHINGTON--The U.S. economy as a whole may not have the sunniest prognosis lately, but Google's chief economist and other industry watchers on Friday diagnosed the Internet sector as relatively healthy.

During a panel discussion at Google's D.C. headquarters, professor-turned-in-house-economist Hal Varian argued that an analysis of search queries at his company's site mirrors deeper economic trends. Job-related searches are up as a share of total searches, for instance, and real-estate and luxury goods searches are down--exactly what you'd expect in a "recessionary environment," Varian said.

But overall, the total number of searches … Read more

In a tiff over its 28.4 percent share in Craigslist, auction giant eBay has filed suit against the online classifieds site in a Delaware court of chancery. According to Reuters, eBay has accused Craigslist's board of directors of diluting its share.

The court confirmed that eBay filed its complaint Tuesday afternoon but could not provide further details, because the suit was filed under seal.

In a phone conversation, Craigslist founder Craig Newmark said, "We're still trying to digest it," and recommended contacting CEO Jim Buckmaster for further comment. Buckmaster did not immediately reply to an … Read more