Amazon.com has posted a third-quarter profit increase of 68 percent, a signal that things could be getting a lot better for online retailers as the holiday season remains just around the corner. A 44 percent rise in sales of electronics and general merchandise was one of the main factors in Amazon’s strong performance, a category that now comprises 43 percent of Amazon’s total sales.
The company also posted a 17 percent increase in sales of media, a figure that was surprisingly low in the second quarter because of disappointing video game sales. This result was strengthened by the release of several popular …read more

Online electronics retailer Newegg Inc., which only operates through the Internet, has decided to file for an initial public offering and raise $175 million. With the money from its IPO, Newegg hopes to repay its debt, expand its operations, and fund capital spending, three essential components for Newegg’s plans.
 
According to the California-based company, Newegg has been profitable every year since its launch in 2001 and has experienced rapid growth since then. Newegg had sales of $2.1 billion in 2008, according to a regulatory filing, and a net income of $15.8 million for the first half of 2009, which is up …read more

Following a $100 million investment in a global advertising campaign, Internet search giant Yahoo has recently unveiled a new and improved web portal in an attempt to attract more traffic and revenue. Yahoo’s upgraded web portal incorporates many new features that will hopefully increase interest in Yahoo’s website as a homepage.
One of the new features of Yahoo’s web portal allows users to embed third-party web services into their individual portals, letting users access their Facebook and Hotmail accounts directly from their Yahoo homepage. The move comes as Yahoo continues to struggle with profitability despite the fact that Yahoo.com is the …read more

Google and Yahoo both dominate their respective niches of online advertisement: while Google is the undisputed leader in search advertising, Yahoo has had a significant lead as far as display ads go, which are banners and other colorful ads. However, Google, has unveiled its proposed counterpart to Yahoo’s display ad dominance, the Doubleclick Ad Exchange.
 
This new technology would change the way that advertisers put display ads on websites for the better, making it easier to buy and sell ad space and to control who sees their ads. Advertisers would also have greater control over where and when their ads are …read more

Computer giant Hewlett-Packard will soon add Internet-browser expert Marc Andreessen to its board of directors, marking the company’s second major interaction with Andreessen after purchasing his software company, Opsware Inc., for $1.6 billion two years ago. Andreessen will start acting immediately, bringing the number of HP directors to eleven.
 
The board of directors has changed dramatically since 2005, when Mark Hurd took over as chief executive officer of the company and decided to shake things up after a variety of ethical scandals committed by the board in relation to media leaks. Adding Andreessen to the board brings the knowledge of the …read more

Despite widespread economic uncertainty, social networking giant Facebook has shown no fear when it comes to expanding. While other companies continue to cut costs and slim down their employment, Facebook hopes to hire an additional 200 employees by the end of the year and has already snatched up several big-name industry players in the process.
 
So far, Facebook has lured Arturo Bejar, former Yahoo! security team leader that will now serve as Facebook’s director of engineering, and David Recordon, former employee and of blogging software maker Six Apart and one of the developers of the OpenID authentication software. Former Genentech CFO …read more

Gary S. Kaplan was the founder of the defunct Internet gambling company BetOnSports, but now he could be will be facing significant criminal punishment after pleading guilty to multiple charges of conspiracy to violate the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. He will give up $43.65 million and serve 41 to 51 months in jail.
Kaplan was originally charged with violating federal laws regarding interstate transmissions of wagers through wire. Indicted for the charges in 2006, Kaplan was eventually arrested in the Dominican Republic in March 2007, brought back to the United States, and has been in custody since then.
As far …read more

Today, Deb Ng posted a piece called “Yes, Your WILL Be Googled” that talks about the fact that potential clients probably will use Google to search for your name. There are a number of problems with this:

Other people may have the same name as you.
You may have personal accounts that pop up attached to your name.
Someone who’s not a good Google searcher could find bad or confusing information.
You may write under multiple names.

What does this all mean to you? It means that when someone googles you, they could find your work, a page for a nude modle with the same …read more

Twitter has rapidly taken the world by storm, having become as popular among everyday people as it has with business and celebrities. Now, the company behind the micro-blogging website is gearing up to spread the word to all of its users about how they can make money off of Twitter, whether they are a single mom or a big business.
As early as later this week, Twitter will begin to publish information about how Twitter users can use various add-ons and tools to generate income. The campaign is intended to be educational, but Twitter would generate revenue through these services while …read more

A spokesperson for AOL has revealed that the internet company could soon be facing a slew of job cuts after a review of the company’s finances. The news came at a companywide meeting from AOL’s CEO Tim Armstrong, who warned employees to be prepared for the worst pending AOL’s financial evaluation. 
 
Armstrong’s comments point to problems within the company, essentially underlining the AOL’s needs to cut costs as the economic crisis continues to take its toll on businesses around the world. The company’s spokesperson did not reveal exactly how many jobs were in danger.
 
AOL is a subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. …read more