Beth Cox

The threat of war and possible “code red” alerts about potential terrorist attacks has prompted some of the major travel sites to launch special information centers for travelers and adopt new, more flexible policies regarding cancellations and refunds. Expedia , for example, said that its new policy waives cancellation penalties and change fees and provides […]

CMGI , a so-called “incubator” that was a high-flying Wall Street favorite before Internet reality set in, confirmed Friday that “a transaction is in the works” to sell its online auction site, uBid.com. “The companies expect to announce one shortly,” CMGI spokesman John Stevens told internetnews.com. Andover, Mass.-based CMGI said in its most recent quarterly […]

Billionaire investor George Soros has once again upped the ante at struggling discount designer clothing retailer Bluefly, this time adding another $2 million in capital and eliminating some debt. Manhattan-based Bluefly , whose stock price has again dipped below the NASDAQ-required $1 a share mark, was taken over by Soros Private Equity Partners in 2000 […]

Just a day after Expedia’s incoming CEO told an investor conference about the online travel site’s continuing push into the hotel market, the Bellevue, Wash-based company inked a deal with the Six Continents Hotels network. Not to be outdone, the airline-backed travel site Orbitz launched a program aimed at signing up more hotels to participate […]

Executives at online travel company Expedia are continuing to put a good deal of emphasis on the hotel room reservations side of the business as the meltdown among U.S. airlines continues. Speaking at an investor and analyst conference today in New York City, incoming CEO Erik Blachford, who will replace retiring Expedia founder Richard Barton […]

In a marriage that almost makes one ask why the vows weren’t said sooner, online shopping search company DealTime is acquiring consumer review and ratings company Epinions. Both companies are privately held, so financial details weren’t disclosed, but the synergies seem obvious and the companies said that each will add complementary content and online shopping […]

Communication Intelligence Corp. (CIC), struggling to get its stock price above NASDAQ’s minimum for continued listing, rolled out a campaign Monday to promote its new JotComplete software for the Palm OS. The product converts handwriting to typed text for all Palm applications. Redwood Shores, Calif.-based CIC said its JotComplete solution includes an intelligent, dictionary-based word […]

Auction giant eBay, moving as expected to completely integrate its Half.com operation, is planning to phase out the brand by the middle of next year and said the CEO of the fixed-price business is departing. The integration has been proceeding quietly since eBay bought Half.com in 2000. The site features books, music, and computer games […]

Wireless pioneer and billionaire Craig McCaw will be losing some influence at Nextel Communications, the company that he helped propel to success with a $1.1 billion controlling investment back in 1995. The Reston, Va.-based company said that it expects McCaw to drop somewhat below the five percent ownership threshold shortly, and that would mean that […]

eBay has spawned yet another new feeder business, this one called AuctionDrop, a San Carlos, Calif., company that lets anyone sell goods on the auction giant by simply dropping them off. The premise is that not everyone has the time or inclination to learn the requisite skills to be a successful eBay seller. The deal […]

First Amazon.com patented the threaded discussion process, now they have paved the way to get into the domain-name business. Apparently the store that boasts of offering “Earth’s Biggest Selection” wants to make sure that the offerings include domain names. And why not, one might ask — you can already buy all the hardware and software […]

The e-commerce sales tax issue is again coming to the fore with state officials from Florida to New York to California publicly grumbling about all the lost tax revenues from Internet sales. In California, two state lawmakers have introduced bills that could force Web retailers to collect sales taxes on the state’s behalf. Florida lawmakers […]