. Earth Science News .




.
TRADE WARS
eBay platform prime for Internet age shopping
by Staff Writers
San Francisco (AFP) Oct 12, 2011

Google profit climbs on rising revenue
San Francisco (AFP) Oct 13, 2011 - Google on Thursday reported that its profit in the recently ended quarter climbed to $2.73 billion on the wings of soaring online advertising revenue.

"We had a great quarter," said Google co-founder and chief executive Larry Page.

"Revenue was up 33 percent year on year and our quarterly revenue was just short of $10 billion," he added.

Google took in $9.72 billion in revenue in the quarter that ended September 30, with the bulk of the money being raked in at online properties owned by the Northern California-based Internet powerhouse.

Google stock price jumped more than five percent to $588.50 a share in after-hours trading that followed release of the earnings report.

The performance topped expectations of Wall Street analysts.


EBay on Wednesday set the stage for shops large and small to tap into Internet age techniques for taking payments with PayPal technology at the heart of cashless transactions.

A PayPal Access online identity program and an X.commerce platform for payments were launched as eBay opened its Innovate Developer Conference in San Francisco.

"We expect technology to change commerce more in the next three years than in the past 15," said eBay chief executive John Donahoe.

"This creates a tremendous global opportunity for developers and merchants alike," he said. "With X.commerce, we've created an open ecosystem that is the most complete set of commerce capabilities on the planet."

X.commerce is intended to match merchants with independent developers building innovative ways to handle check-outs at websites, inventories, calculating taxes and other aspects of running shops with online outlets.

Meanwhile, PayPal Access will let people shop at websites anywhere on the Internet using names and passwords from accounts at eBay's widely used online financial transactions service.

EBay boasted that there are more than 100 million PayPal accounts in 190 markets worldwide.

"There's still too much friction in online shopping," said X.commerce identity and informatics general manager Damon Hougland.

"With PayPal Access, consumers can spend less time filling out forms and more time buying," he continued. "Retailers can create a great shopping experience for millions of customers who already trust PayPal to buy online."

The technology platform is open, meaning retailers are free to put whatever software applications they find useful on top of X.commerce.

"Technology is changing the way that we shop," X.commerce head of community Naveed Anwar told AFP at the developer-focused conference.

"Our goal is to make sure we give the best tools to our merchants to deliver the best consumer experience," he added.

EBay also announced it is integrating its payment technology with the "open graph" at leading online social network Facebook.

"Integrating Facebook Open Graph technology across eBay's global commerce platforms represents a powerful way to bring people together across an inherently social activity -- shopping," said Facebook director of platform and mobile marketing Katie Mitic.

"We're just starting to see whats possible with social commerce, and look forward to the new experiences developers create," she continued.

Mitic on Wednesday joined the eBay board of directors.

"Her expertise will be a tremendous asset for eBay as we focus on enabling the future of commerce and changing how consumers shop and pay with our global platforms," said Donahoe.

The retail market is expected to reach $10 trillion globally by 2013, according to market figures cited by eBay.

The majority of those deals take place in real-world shops, but the growing popularity of smartphones and Internet bargain hunting is shifting the balance.

"Consumers interact in numerous settings, both real and virtual, the old boundaries no longer exist," said NPD Group analyst Marshal Cohen.

"Consumers are becoming increasingly more sophisticated in their use of technology to help them get more bang for their buck," he continued.

"While these changes might be daunting for some, the businesses that are able to embrace these innovations and find fast, flexible and creative solutions will have the competitive advantage."

Related Links
Global Trade News




.
.
Get Our Free Newsletters Via Email
...
Buy Advertising Editorial Enquiries


China vendors 'riot' online over Taobao fee hike
Beijing (AFP) Oct 13, 2011 - Tens of thousands of frustrated small Chinese vendors are "online rioting" in protest at a decision by the nation's top web retailer Taobao to raise service fees, state media said Thursday.

Nearly 40,000 small sellers have attacked big brands such as Japan's clothing chain Uniqlo by placing huge orders online, immediately cancelling them and leaving negative comments, the Beijing Business Today newspaper said.

Taobao Mall, the business-to-consumer branch of Taobao, which operates like a Chinese eBay or Amazon, earlier this week announced an up to ten-fold increase in service fees from next year.

Service fees will rise from 6,000 yuan ($940) to as much as 60,000 yuan ($9,400) a year, and a compulsory fixed sum deposit will go from 10,000 yuan ($1,570) to up to 150,000 yuan ($23,500).

Taobao said the 15-fold increase in the vendors' deposit would "encourage sellers to operate at Taobao Mall in a more active and serious way". The deposit is in place for situations where a customer demands a refund but the individual retailer refuses to pay.

The fee increase has raised speculation that Taobao intends to squeeze out small vendors, who have reacted in a wave of online protest directed at the site.

"We gathered... to form the anti-Taobao union on Tuesday night and joined the price-hike fray," a wedding gown vendor identified by her surname Quan was quoted as saying by the official China Daily newspaper.

"We (small vendors) are the ones that helped Taobao prosper in the first place. How can they treat us so harshly now?" she asked in the report, which dubbed the vendors' actions "online rioting".

Jack Ma, chairman of Taobao parent Alibaba Group, on Thursday likened those involved to "Nazis" on his Twitter-like Weibo account.

"I logged on to the Internet last night and heard those people singing Nazi (style) 'get rid of everything and destroy everything' military songs," he said.

Taobao said Wednesday it had reported the online unrest to police and vowed that it will "by no means tolerate the atrocities that harm other innocent sellers."

It added that some of those engaged in the online rioting were not legitimate vendors.

Ma said the company would not change its decision, while an Alibaba spokeswoman said Thursday the firm was open to talks with the angry vendors.



.

. Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle



TRADE WARS
South African wage deal aims to save textile jobs
Johannesburg (AFP) Oct 13, 2011
A novel wage agreement for South African textile workers will lower salaries for new hires by 30 percent, in a bid to save the industry from cheaper Chinese competition. The deal is being closely by watched by other industries in a nation where unemployment is mired around 25 percent. According to unofficial estimates, using a broader definition, it is as high as 40 percent. President Ja ... read more


TRADE WARS
UN to reduce Haiti mission, peacekeepers at record high

Radiation hotspot detected in Tokyo

Japan offers 10,000 free trips to foreigners: report

Twelve dead in China construction site accident

TRADE WARS
Metal shortages alert from leading geologists

Apple wins Australian ban in Samsung tablet case

German satellite hurtles towards Earth: officials

Asia powers PC rebound in computer gaming industry

TRADE WARS
China invests billions to avert water crisis

'Iron' fist proposed for Miami's giant snail problem

Chilean giant dam row enters Supreme Court

Myanmar seeks to ease Beijing worries over dam

TRADE WARS
Research shows how life might have survived 'snowball Earth'

Rising CO2 levels at end of Ice Age not tied to Pacific Ocean

Rising carbon dioxide levels at end of last ice age not tied to Pacific Ocean

Swiss warn of massive ice chunk breaking off glacier

TRADE WARS
Energy, food security to dominate Rio+20: envoy

Which direction are herbicides heading

Burkina Faso says faces food crisis

Plant genomes may help next generation respond to climate change

TRADE WARS
Strong quake in Bali causes injuries, panic

The Strange Rubbing Boulders Of The Atacama

Thailand fights to keep Bangkok dry

Storm Jova drenches western Mexico

TRADE WARS
Food crisis looming in Sudan: UN agency

Kenya tries to contact French woman's abductors in Somalia

Berkeley Lab Tests Cookstoves for Haiti

Guyana opposition warns foreign bauxite firms

TRADE WARS
In the brain, winning is everywhere

Alzheimer's might be transmissible in similar way as infectious prion diseases

Keeping track of reality

Merkel, rights groups hail Nobel nod to women


.

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2011 - Space Media Network. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement