E-commerce

O'Reilly: The Web is at war, and it's making me sad

NEW YORK--Web pioneer and conference honcho Tim O'Reilly warned the audience at the Web 2.0 Expo here on Tuesday afternoon that he thinks "we're headed into another ugly time." Namely, everybody is just being really nasty to each other. And it makes his hippie soul hurt.

For example, Rupert "Dr. Evil" Murdoch keeps threatening to pull News Corp.'s pay wall-guarded content from Google, perhaps offering an exclusive deal to another search engine for one hundred billion dollars (give or take a few bucks).

Those ubiquitous URL-shortening toolbars are throwing Web addresses behind … Read more

Feds: Top e-tailers profit from billion-dollar Web scam

Updated at 2:50 p.m. PST to include quotes from senators and names of retailers that do business with Vertrue, Webloyalty, and Affinion.

Words like "scam," "fraud," and "arrest" filled the air during a Senate hearing on Tuesday that focused on the controversial marketing companies that allegedly dupe consumers into paying monthly fees to join online loyalty programs.

Vertrue, Webloyalty, and Affinion generated more than $1.4 billion by "misleading" Web shoppers, said members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, which called the hearing. Lawmakers saved … Read more

Senate to disclose findings in Web 'mystery charge' probe

Tuesday could turn out to be an embarrassing day for a score of online retailers, such as Continental Airlines, FTD, and Classmates.com.

The so-called mystery charges that have appeared on some of their customers' credit card statements will come under scrutiny at a hearing held by the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

At the center of the federal probe are Webloyalty, Affinion, and Vertrue, companies that make "cash-back" and coupon offers to consumers and charge them monthly fees to enroll in their loyalty programs. The reason the government is involved is that for … Read more

Antitrust concerns linger in Google Books deal

The revised Google Books settlement agreement may quiet international opponents, but it still gives Google a monopoly on commercializing out-of-print books where the copyrights are unclaimed and fails to protect consumer privacy, opponents said on Monday.

"We're at a cross roads," Internet Archive Director Brewster Kahle said during a panel late Monday on the Future of Books at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. "Is it going to be a subscription life...where one or two companies own the distribution and presentation (rights) to these books?"

In response, Google Books Engineering Director Dan Clancy said: &… Read more

Two cheers for Google Books

Editors' note: This is a guest column. See Larry Downes' bio below.

A month and a half after Google and the leading trade associations for publishers and authors withdrew their proposed settlement over Google Books, the parties on Friday filed a new version of the agreement.

The hope is that this new draft (now weighing in at 165 pages) will respond to the many objections to the original version, particularly those from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Significantly, the revised settlement excludes books published outside the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. And the registry that will collect … Read more

Holiday shoppers going social, mobile

Correction at 7:25 a.m. PST November 12: This article incorrectly stated the percentages of consumers planning to use social media and mobile phones to assist in their holiday shopping. Seventeen percent of consumers who were surveyed plan to use social media to help them shop, and 19 percent plan to use their mobile phones.

If you're looking for just the right gift for Aunt Sally, you may find yourself turning to social networks and your mobile phone this holiday-shopping season.

More consumers expect that these two aspects of technology will help lead the way this year, according … Read more

Amazon debuts Kindle for PC

Kindle book buyers can now read their books right from their PCs without having to buy a Kindle reader.

Amazon onTuesday made available its new Kindle for PC, free software that lets Kindle customers read their e-books on tablet PCs, Netbooks, notebooks, and other personal computers.

The software can be downloaded from the Kindle for PC page. The quick installation sets up the reader application, prompting you to log in and register with your Amazon account or create a new one. After logging in, you can download books that you've already purchased at the Kindle store or click on … Read more

Google unveils search tool for retail sites

Google introduced a new Commerce Search tool for retailers on Wednesday to try to make the online shopping experience easier for consumers as the holidays approach.

According to Google, Web users spend an "average of just eight seconds" on a retail site before deciding whether to stay. With that in mind, Commerce Search aims to improve search on retailers' individual sites.

With Commerce Search, shoppers can sort data by "category, price, brand, or any other attribute," Google said. Retailers can also offer special attention for specific products to draw consumer attention. The tool includes built-in spell-check … Read more

Amazon gets social with Twitter integration

Amazon.com this week rolled out an interesting new feature that allows Amazon Associate members to broadcast links to Amazon products via their Twitter accounts.

Amazon Associates is the partner program the company uses as part of its affiliate advertising programs, allowing customers to make money advertising Amazon products.

Associates can now simply click a link in the toolbar to send a link (replete with sales-y text) to Twitter as part of their shopping and selling experience. Amazon gets a sale, Twitter gets traffic, and the associate gets revenue share. What could possibly go wrong?

Linking to Amazon or other … Read more