E-Commerce

Google Takes Heat for Illegal Rx Drug Sales Online
June 19, 2013

Mississippi AG Jim Hood has called on his counterparts in other states to join him in confronting Google for not doing enough to prevent illegal online activities including the sale of prescription drugs by rogue pharmacies. Hood invited Google CEO Larry Page to discuss his concerns but did not receive a response, he said. Consequently, the state had no choice but to issue subpoenas.

Old Possum's Book of Practical Big Data
June 19, 2013

OK, the title's a cheap riff on the T.S. Elliot book of poems that inspired Cats -- but stay with me, this goes places. A big group of cats is called a "clowder." What if we could access a clowder of big data? Big Data has been taking up a big part of my conscious life lately, what with all the analytics vendors out there and so many companies trying to figure it all out.

Microsoft Challenges iAd With Ad Pano
June 18, 2013

In an effort to enable rich, interactive ads for its Windows 8 platform, Microsoft on Tuesday announced Ad Pano, a brand-new advertising platform that runs across Windows 8, apps, Bing, Xbox and Skype. Debuted at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity being held this week in France, Ad Pano gets its name from the panoramic abilities of the ad format.

Crowdsourcing Entertainment Marketing via Social Media
June 17, 2013

Movie studios and TV networks increasingly are turning to social media for help with generating buzz about their upcoming releases and programming. Communities are building around favorite movie franchises and TV shows. Have movie and show producers really been listening -- and if they have, has anything changed because of what they've heard? Yes -- and maybe.

From the Inevitable Files: Lawmakers Scrutinize Snowden-China Connections
June 14, 2013

Well, this was bound to happen. U.S. lawmakers said Thursday that the House Intelligence Committee -- the same House Intelligence Committee that trashed Chinese telecommunications companies last year -- will conduct a "thorough scrub" of connections between China and Eric Snowden. Snowden -- a "traitor," according to Committee chairman Mike Rogers, R.-Mich. -- is now believed to be in Hong Kong.

Facebook Pushes Public Conversations with New Clickable Hashtags
June 13, 2013

Social media websites including Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr have all adopted the "clickable hashtag" widely popularized by Twitter, and on Wednesday Facebook joined the proverbial club. "To date, there has not been a simple way to see the larger view of what's happening or what people are talking about," explained Greg Lindley, a product manager at Facebook.

Where CRM and BPM Meet
June 13, 2013

Pegasystems held PegaWorld in "PegOrlando" this week, and a good show it was. I have always wondered about the difference between CRM (social and otherwise) and BPM, or business process management, so I was happy to attend. Both CRM and BPM deal with the interaction between the vendor and customer, and each is involved in doing the things that make customers come back.

Google's Waze Grab Is About a Lot More Than Defense
June 12, 2013

Google has finalized its acquisition of Waze, developer of a crowdsourced mapping app, with the goal of expanding its location-based and social maps offerings while providing users with a way to outsmart traffic. Waze has a worldwide user base of about 50 million people who log in to access or submit real-time navigational data. Google reportedly paid about $1.3 billion for the startup.

Iceland Won't Grant Snowden Asylum - Until He Gets There
June 12, 2013

As far as Iceland goes, Edward Snowden may be left out in the cold. Snowden, the whistleblower who made international headlines after leaking secrets about the U.S. National Security Agency's PRISM program, is believed to currently be in Hong Kong. Given Hong Kong's history of extraditing people to the United States, speculation has turned to where Snowden might go after Hong Kong.

SAP Pulls Hybris Into Its Stable
June 11, 2013

SAP acquired Switzerland-based enterprise resource planning company Hybris last week in order to add cloud-based, next-generation e-commerce capabilities to its offerings. Hybris has developed an omnichannel commerce platform that allows businesses to incorporate Web, mobile, call center and store actions in their efforts to track and respond to customer activity.

Spreading Your E-Commerce Wings
June 10, 2013

Much has been said of the opportunities that lie in emerging retail markets, especially in countries or regions that have been less affected by recession. For many Western companies, however, a lack of confidence and basic local knowledge is stifling opportunity for international expansion. There are two key markets that I consider to be low-hanging fruit for U.S. merchants: Russia and China.

Facebook Pares Down Its Menu of Ad Options
June 08, 2013

Facebook will simplify its advertising structure in an effort to make it easier for marketers to determine which products will help them best reach consumers, the company announced this week. Advertisers currently face a choice of 27 different formats on the social network, but the streamlining effort will cut that back to fewer than half that number.

Bonitasoft Revs Its Execution Engine in Bonita BPM 6
June 07, 2013

It has been a busy three years for Bonitasoft. Since its launch, the company has: 1) commercialized its open source business process management technology, which it created out of the Bonita Project in the mid-2000s; 2) pulled in $28 million in venture funding; and 3) attracted some 600 customers. This week, the company hit a fourth milestone: the release of its first major upgrade.

Amazon May Claim a Bigger Place in the Food Chain
June 06, 2013

Amazon reportedly is rolling out a grocery delivery service that could allow it to expand into a mostly untapped e-commerce market. The company already runs AmazonFresh, a grocery service that delivers food and home products to several Seattle neighborhoods. A similar service reportedly will launch later this month in Los Angeles, and by the end of the year in San Francisco.

London Police Now Pen Pals With BitTorrent Operators
June 05, 2013

Britain's National Fraud Intelligence Bureau has begun sending letters to people it suspects of operating websites that provide access to unauthorized content for "criminal gain." The letters state that law enforcement authorities are working with the government and "industry bodies" and go on to say that operators of copyright-happy sites are in breach of the Serious Crimes Act.

Salesforce Buys ExactTarget
June 05, 2013

Salesforce.com has made its biggest acquisition ever: It has snagged marketing automation and campaign management vendor ExactTarget for $2.5 billion. As part of the transaction, Salesforce will acquire all outstanding ExactTarget stock for $33.75 per share in cash. Both companies' boards of directors have approved the deal, which is expected to increase Salesforce revenue by $120-$125 million.

Apple Battles E-Book Charges
June 05, 2013

Apple's trial for alleged e-book price-fixing is under way, and the tech giant has said it is not going down without a fight. The suit, brought by the U.S. Department of Justice about a year ago, claims that Apple and five other major publishers engaged in a conspiracy to fix e-book pricing. The alleged conspiracy began in 2009, when Amazon released its Kindle.

Big Data on the Brain
June 04, 2013

I seem to be doing a lot of research and writing about Big Data this year. I am taking a lot of briefings from emerging analytics companies too, and I see it all as net good because the emphasis on data and analytics is really an emphasis on information, an economic indicator of sorts for me. The thirst for customer information tells me that more companies are working to discover new things.

US, China to Hold Regular Cybersecurity Chats
June 03, 2013

Increasingly testy rhetoric and increasingly legitimate concerns have prompted the United States and China to announce that they will hold regular high-level talks on standards of cyberbehavior. The announcement precedes a meeting between President Obama and Chinese president Xi Jinping scheduled for Friday.

Google Offers a New Bag of Gmail Sorting Tricks
May 30, 2013

Google has unveiled a new Gmail design to give users more organizational control over a cluttered in-box.The revamped in-box is an option; users who like the approach can separate their email into four tabs: primary, promotions, social and updates. Primary is for the mail from friends, families or colleagues that a user would want to read and perhaps save.