Search Results for: online shopping

Google’s Domain Name Land Grab: Consumer Convenience Or Coercive Control Point?

Privacy

Internet naming decisions are the sort of Internet plumbing inside baseball that only interests policy wonks and marketing mavens. That is until an 800 pound gorilla like Google GOOGL +0.54% decides to pay $25 million for a single generic top-level domain name (gTLD). Buying “.app” for almost four-times the previous record for a gTLD not only raised eyebrows, but questions about the strategy behind Google’s expansive and expensive domain name land grab. Although the most costly, .app is merely one of over 100 gTLDs, Google had already spent nearly $20…

Business spotlight on cybercrime

Staff Writer

In the wake of the Sony email hacking case, business expert Rachel Bridge looks at cybercrime and how you can protect your business. Online cybercrime is not just the stuff of sci-fi movies and urban myth. It is very real and it can pose a huge threat to your business. What’s more, contrary to what many people think, cybercrime is just as likely to affect small firms as large ones. Indeed, a survey by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) found that over a 12-month period, 41 per cent of…

Black Friday – consumers warned to be vigilant

Staff Writer

On the eve of the much-anticipated retail focused sale and discount event, Black Friday, consumers in key regions across Africa, such as Kenya, are warned by network security experts to be vigilant. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are acknowledged as two of the busiest shopping days of the year, involving contribution by social networks and ecommerce websites. Global network security company Fortinet, and its research division FortiGuard Labs, are warning shoppers to be wary. The Company has issued important tips than can keep consumers safe, both when shopping online or…

Most U.S consumers ‘unlikely’ to purchase or use bitcoin

Staff Writer

A study conducted by the Massachusetts Division of Banks on the bitcoin use found that close to two – thirds of those who responded said they were unlikely to buy or use the virtual currency. The article by Andrew Moran also highlights a study from the U.K. where 71 percent of British consumers don’t want to use bitcoin for their shopping needs. Of course we are very early in the game and the age of the respondent’s matters, those in their late teens and twenties may be more willing to…

Japan e-commerce giant to buy Viber for $900-M

Staff Writer

TOKYO – Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten Inc, controlled by billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani, will buy call and messaging app provider Viber Media Inc for $900 million in a deal that would more than double the number of users in its digital empire. Rakuten offers services from financing to shopping to online video on its e-commerce platform, the largest in Japan. But in the face of a shrinking population and weak consumer spending at home, Mikitani is trying to re-invent Rakuten as a one-stop-site for a global audience. Privately held Viber, run…