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Google's Armor Shows Some Chinks January 20, 2012 
Google's investments in mobile advertising and dark clouds over Europe contributed to weak quarterly sales and earnings. Share prices fell 10 percent on the news that Google's fourth quarter sales of $8.13 billion fell short of analyst estimates of $8.41 billion. Profit before certain costs was $9.50 per share, which was a dollar shy of the $10.50 estimate on the street.
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Groupon, LivingSocial and the Holy Grail of Commerce December 16, 2011 
The market for local commerce has been the holy grail for Internet companies since the dawn of the modem. However, that market has been more like "Monty Python And The Holy Grail." Until now. The missing link for local commerce hasn't been the Web, it's been four things: web usage as everyday "utility"; the growth of mobile; the inefficiency of "old-fashioned" advertising; and time-shifting.
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Online Cash Registers in Holiday Overdrive December 15, 2011 
Ask just about any research company that tracks online spending about this holiday season and you will get bombarded with cheer: "good," "strong," "robust," and "surprisingly strong" are among the adjectives used to describe online shopping activity this month and last. The latest indicator is a report on the holiday season-to-date: $24.6 billion has been spent online, for a 15-percent increase over the same period last year.
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Google+ Tiptoes Into Facial Recognition Territory December 12, 2011 
Google+Photos is adding facial recognition technology that will let users be tagged automatically in photos. To pre-empt privacy concerns, Google has made the feature opt-in, said Matt Steiner, engineering lead on the Google+ Photos team. For it to work, the user must turn on the new "Find My Face" feature in the Google+ settings.
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Backlash Against Amazon Price Check Builds Steam December 10, 2011 
A backlash is growing against an app designed to help consumers scope out products at local stores, compare them to similar goods on Amazon -- and then leave the stores empty-handed to make their actual purchases online. Critics of the app, called "Amazon Price Check," include brick-and-mortar retailers and Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe.
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Twitter Rolls the Dice December 10, 2011 
When a social media site undertakes a major redesign, it's kind of like that scene in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade." Drink from the right cup, and you're completely re-energized. But there are a lot of poor choices you can make, and drinking from any of the wrong cups will turn your site into a dried-out husk.
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Verizon's Galaxy Nexus Loses Its Wallet December 06, 2011 
Verizon will not include the Google Wallet mobile payment functionality in its version of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone, which is set to launch in the U.S. later this month. The carrier cited security reasons for its decision. Android smartphones in the Nexus line are traditionally pure Android devices with minimal tweaks or UI skins added in by carriers.
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Cyber Monday Racks Up Impressive Gains November 29, 2011 
Online sales for Cyber Monday increased 33 percent from the same day last year, according to IBM's Cyber Monday Benchmark. The growth surpassed that of another banner day for e-commerce, Black Friday, which saw an increase of 29.3 percent in 2011 online sales compared with 2010's performance. "We expected the holiday season to be good this year," said John Squire, chief strategy officer with IBM Smarter Commerce.
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E-Commerce Rings Up Boffo Black Friday November 28, 2011 
By all accounts, e-commerce exceeded expectations on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday -- and many expect a repeat performance for Cyber Monday. For the holiday season-to-date, $12.7 billion has been spent online, for a 15-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year, comScore reported. On Black Friday alone, $800 million in online spending occurred.
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AmEx Makes Bold Digital Commerce Play November 08, 2011 
American Express is extending its financial reach to the wild world of tech startups through a new multiyear digital commerce initiative. The $100 million program is designed to help identify and develop innovative technologies to aid the company's digital transformation and strengthen connections to customers around the world.
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Android, iOS Duke It Out for Smartphone Ad Supremacy - iPad's in the Ring Alone October 26, 2011 
Android has become the platform for mobile advertisers to target, it would seem, based on separate reports from ABI Research and Millennial Media. Android served up more ad impressions overall in Q3 than rival iOS, at 56 percent, Millennial Media reported. For its part, ABI Media noted that in Q2, Android overtook iOS to become the market share leader in mobile application downloads.
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Verizon Makes No Bones About New Ad-Friendly Privacy Terms October 14, 2011 
Verizon Wireless has changed its privacy policy to permit it to do, well, almost anything it wants to with users' data. The new policy, which is opt-out, allows it to track subscribers' Web browsing, location and app usage behavior. The policy allows it to share this data with third parties in order to produce business and marketing reports, although in these instances, the data will be anonymized.
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In-Your-Face Advertising That Consumers Might Love September 21, 2011 
3D marketing is powerful -- and even more so, when it's delivered to the palm of your hand. Mobile 3D is becoming an increasingly common way of grabbing, holding, and entertaining consumers. From using current mobile technologies to create a sense of 3D, to creating actual images that seem to pop off the screen and into the air, mobile marketers are using the power of interactivity.
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The Magic of QR Codes September 07, 2011 
You might have seen them without knowing what they are: little black and white boxes with squiggles and lines in the corner of a magazine advertisement, on a band's poster in a coffeeshop, or even on a T-shirt. Those things, called "QR codes," or "quick response codes," are part of a whole new way of connecting with consumers via their smartphones.
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Defending the Mobile Universe From a Fraudster Onslaught September 03, 2011 
The mobile age has arrived. In 2011, global shipments of smartphones and tablet devices surpassed shipments of laptops and desktop PCs, laying the groundwork for an era in which consumers are increasingly using mobile technology for everything from airline reservations to vehicle purchases. The mobile age snuck up on many of us, but fraudsters have been eagerly waiting for its rise.
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Hey, Mom - What's a Wallet? August 31, 2011 
Thanks to a variety of mobile payment systems, buying and selling goods and services has never been easier. Increasingly, mobile devices are becoming both credit-card readers and stand-ins for the cards themselves. It might not mean the end of cash just yet, but we're moving in that direction. "Ten years from now, we'll be able to live without much of a wallet," said Double Diamond President Todd Ablowitz.
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