eBay to Pull out of Japan
eBay plans to withdraw from the Japanese market, according to Stephanie Tilenius, the vice president for the company's international operations.
Tilenius told CNBC Asia, "We have decided to exit the Japanese market for now." The Japanese business has disappointed eBay, which trails behind the auction site of Yahoo Japan, MarketWatch Tokyo, bureau chief Bill Clifford reported. Tilenius said that, if "the conditions and the competitive nature of the market improve, then we may reenter at a later date."
Meanwhile, eBay announced Tuesday it will pay $9.5 million in cash to acquire Taiwan's leading operator of auction Web sites, NeoCom Technology. It began trading in October 1998, and has two sites. In a release, eBay said operating expenses for the Taiwan sites are expected to reduce the company's second-quarter earnings by one cent.
Warner Teams up with Online Partner
Warner Music Group and Listen.com announced an agreement to make Warner music products available through the Rhapsody digital music subscription service.
Warner is the fourth major label to come to terms with Listen.com. Vivendi's Universal Music Group is the only big label that hasn't followed suit. Universal's music is available online through Pressplay, a joint venture between Sony Music Entertainment and UMG.
Lycos Selling Space on Indexes
Terra Lycos is guaranteeing Web sites' inclusion on the Lycos Web for $30 a year. Other portal sites, including Yahoo, have previously agreed to sell visibility on their indexes as well.
"Web site owners face a real challenge in staying in front of the right customers," said Tom Wilde, general manager of search services for Terra Lycos. He said research by International Data Corp. found more than 50 percent of Web searches are abandoned and up to 97 percent of some sites' searches show no click-throughs to any results. "It's vital for the enterprise to develop a strategy that ensures customers can find them," he said.
Olympics Illustrate Global Reach of Internet
Web sites delivering news and information about the 2002 Winter Games drew heavy interest from around the world.
The International Olympic Committee's Olympic.org, for example, generated as much as 69 percent of its traffic from outside the United States, according to research by Comscore Networks. "Most major sites showed a substantial increase in worldwide visitors, with some growing by double or even triple digits," the research firm reported.
Irish Launch Web-only All News Channel
Ireland Live Television News, a digital television channel aimed at the global market, was launched today. The channel is part of Ireland Live Television Networks and can be found at www.irelandlivetelevision.tv.
Aimed at Irish communities in the United States, Britain, Europe and Australia, it's the world's first dedicated 24-hour live news channel on broadband. News will be updated every 15 minutes.
Google Amends Ad Policy
Popular online search engine producer Google Inc. is introducing a new program that enables site operators to have their sites displayed more prominently for a fee--an advertising-driven system derided by critics as an invitation to deceptive business practices.
Under a new feature scheduled to launch tonight, the rankings of a search engine devoted to advertisers will be determined in part by how much Web sites offer to be listed in specific categories.
The system lets Web sites raise their bids to increase their chances for higher placement on the section of Google's site that's devoted to sponsored links.
Besides factoring in Web sites' bids, Google's ranking formula will consider how many times visitors click on the displayed links--a departure from other so-called "pay-for-placement" models.
Online Sales Reach New High
Online sales of computers and books, flowers and almost everything else totaled $10.043 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.
That was a 34 percent rise from the third quarter and came while all retail sales rose 9.5 percent to $860 billion. For the year, total retail sales were estimated at $3.2 trillion, while e-commerce, excluding sales of travel related products, were $32.6 billion. E-retail sales made up exactly 1 percent of total sales in 2001, up 0.1 percent from the 2000 level, the government report said.