E-business Topic Center

Opinions, news and in-depth looks at the business behind e-commerce

Chinese rival bolsters search engine against Baidu with Alibaba partnership

China's Baidu has long dominated the country's search market. But a local rival to the company is bolstering its own search services with the help of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group.
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Google Checkout to shut down in November

Google will retire its Checkout payment processing tool on Nov. 20, and warned retailers they will need to move to a different payment processing platform.

Q&A: Bitcoin developer talks regulation, open source and the elusive Satoshi Nakamoto

With Bitcoin all the rage and startups popping up left and right, it's hard to know who's an expert in the virtual currency and who just has an opinion. Most people would put Jeff Garzik in the former camp.

Bitcoiners rally to enlighten Washington

Washington's biggest problem when it comes to Bitcoin may just be that policymakers on the Hill don't know enough about it, yet.

Bitcoiners crave coders to cope with demand

Bitcoin is not going away, the digital currency's developers say, and they're craving more technically savvy people to support its use.

Bitcoin's rollercoaster ride is not slowing down

More bumps in the road are probably in store for Bitcoin. The virtual currency has seen some massive swings in value over the last several weeks, but that volatility is not likely to end soon, its lead developer suggested on Saturday.

Bitcoin finding its feet at first Silicon Valley conference

Bitcoin is growing up. The virtual currency that caught the public's attention last month when its value zoomed briefly past $200 kicked off its first Silicon Valley conference Friday evening and shows no sign of losing momentum.

Google Wallet makes payments possible through Gmail

Google is integrating Gmail with Google Wallet so that users can send payments as a mail attachment, even if the recipient doesn't have a Gmail address.

In e-book case, Apple says publishers had already taken measures to counter Amazon

Concerned about Amazon.com's low pricing of e-books, publishers had taken measures as early as 2009 such as "windowing," a practice of delaying e-book releases to benefit sales of hardcover editions, Apple said in a filing in an e-book price-fixing lawsuit.

U.S. residents oppose Internet sales tax, say they'll shop online less

The U.S. Senate has, by a wide margin, supported a bill allowing an Internet sales tax, but the legislation appears to be a tougher sell to the public.

Internet taxes: Is the inevitable about to happen?

Some things never happen the way that us pundits expect. Back on Independence Day in 1999 I wrote this about government taxing the purchase of goods over the Internet: "I fully believe in the ingenuity of the government when it comes to imposing taxes. We will be paying these taxes soon." Well, "soon" has not happened yet, but maybe it is getting closer.

Choosing an open-source CMS, part 3: Why we use WordPress

In the third part of a three-part series, we look at two organizations that have chosen WordPress as their content management system.

Choosing an open-source CMS, part 2: Why we use Joomla

In the second part of a three-part series, we look at two companies that have chosen Joomla as their content management system.

Choosing an open-source CMS, part 1: Why we use Drupal

In the first part of a three-part series, we look at two companies that have chosen Drupal as their content management system.

When Will Mobile Commerce Be Ready for Primetime?

Mobile commerce offers great deal potential, but like many technology trends, it may take time to really catch on. If your business is looking to implement mcommerce, there are some important factors to consider beyond the technology. First and foremost, think about your customer, and the customer experience.

The e-book revolution is bypassing U.S. elementary schools

Textbooks aren't available for e-readers, and the children's literature that is available generally can't be searched by reading level.

How a Mobile Payment Service Can Grow Your Online Business

As more and more smartphone and tablet users shop via their mobile devices, being able to accept mobile payments is becoming a more important element of ecommerce. But does it make sense for your business? Mobile payment service providers Square, PayAnywhere, PayPal and Bank of America discuss fees, security and which types of business would benefit the most.

Google's antitrust settlement means few changes

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission's antitrust settlement with Google will create few changes in the way the company operates, both critics and fans of the deal said.

Why Oracle bought Eloqua, and what it means for the market

Oracle surprised many tech industry observers by announcing Thursday it would pay US$871 million for marketing automation software vendor Eloqua. The move seemed a bit unlikely given the amount of sales and marketing software Oracle already had.

Here comes the shameless social money grab

Social network services that used to be free now cost money, writes columnist Mike Elgan. He says this is wrong.