E-commerce

Stocksy aims to bring the soul back into stock photography

Bruce Livingstone, founder of the iStockphoto site that grew from a small stock-art community to a multimedia juggernaut, is launching a competitor called Stocksy United today that he hopes will bring the business back to its roots.

Stocksy is a startup, but it won't attract venture capital, won't be acquired by a larger rival, and doesn't have an exit strategy. Instead, it's a cooperative run by its own photographers who get paid a relatively high percentage of the royalties generated by each image sale: 50 percent. On top of that, photographers split the profits left over … Read more

eBay lowers seller fees, in bid to swipe business from Amazon

eBay is eliminating listing fees and simplifying rates in hopes of bringing Amazon sellers to its doors.

In addition to a new fee rate system, eBay will let sellers list many items for free, the company announced today. eBay said the changes, which begin rolling out in April, are the online marketplace's first major update in pricing in several years.

"The update is part of eBay's ongoing commitment to be the most competitively priced commerce platform in the U.S. today, offering sellers of all sizes a great deal and being a partner of choice for merchants, … Read more

Google to split mapping, commerce ops, WSJ reports

It appears that Google's "spring cleaning" is even broader than thought.

The online search giant is splitting its mapping and commerce unit into two separate businesses, The Wall Street Journal reported today, citing its sources.

Jeff Huber, who led the mapping and commerce business, is stepping aside from his role and will be moving to the Google X unit, the Journal said. That business is run by Google co-founder Sergey Brin and works on projects such as self-driving cars and Google Glass.

Google confirmed to CNET that Huber is shifting roles.

"Jeff is an extraordinary executive,&… Read more

SXSW shocker: For LevelUp, business strategy trumps buzz

AUSTIN, Texas--If the fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach, perhaps the optimal way to engineer real affection for your startup is to cook up a similar approach.

That seems to be the logic behind mobile pay service LevelUp's presence at South by Southwest, a show where brands are drowning out startups in search of their breakout moment.

LevelUp, a 2-year-old mobile pay service operated by Boston startup SCVNGR, skipped dog-and-pony-show antics for a far more practical strategy that is drumming up dollars instead of buzz. The company is powering mobile pay at every food … Read more

Google's rival to Amazon Prime eyes Target as partner -- report

Google's rumored Amazon Prime competitor, Google Shopping Express, has at least a couple of major retail partners, according to a report published yesterday.

In an e-mail reportedly sent to employees, Google said that its Shopping Express platform works at several retailers, including Target and Babies R Us, according to TechCrunch, which obtained a copy of the message. Google employees who are currently testing out the service and have opted to become members are allowed free shipping. Those who are simply testing it out but won't become members pay $4.99 per delivery, according to the e-mail.

TechCrunch last … Read more

Book publishers blast Amazon's plan to control domain names

Amazon's effort to control dozens of new generic top-level Internet domain names is drawing fire from a pair of publishing industry groups.

The Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers oppose the Internet retail giant's plan to control so-called generic top-level domains (gTLD) that end in suffixes .book, .author, and .read, arguing that such influence would be anti-competitive.

"Placing such generic domains in private hands is plainly anticompetitive, allowing already dominant, well-capitalized companies to expand and entrench their market power," Authors Guild President Scott Turow wrote to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, … Read more

Path rolls out 3.0 with private messaging and a sticker shop

The social-networking app Path, debuted a major upgrade today, adding on private messages, stickers, and the "Shop." The company says the goal is to boost personalized communication between users, but it looks like Path is also working to monetize the app.

The company describes its objective with private messaging in a blog post today -- the messages are not supposed to be like text messages or Facebook or Twitter posts, but rather aim to make users feel like they're truly interacting with friends.

"When we speak with friends, share a joke, a quiet word, or a … Read more

Amazon greenlights pilot for original children's series

Amazon is giving the green light to a test pilot for an original children's series, adding to its Prime video service library at a time when exclusive content is becoming more important.

The company's movie and series production arm, Amazon Studios, today said the new show, called "Sara Solves It" will be co-developed by WGBH and Out of the Blue Enterprises. It's created by Emmy Award winner Carol Greenwald, who has worked on "Curious George" and "Arthur," and Emmy nominee Angela Santomero of "Blue Clues" and other shows.

The … Read more

E-book porn flourishes on Amazon's Kindle

Amazon has a problem with pornography.

The company created technology to filter smut from its library of video and print offerings and it also pays humans to do the same thing. In spite of that, Kindle users can still download e-books with the same sort of raunchy images and titles normally seen in nudie mags sold at liquor store newsstands.

That's because these salacious e-books are self-published, spawned from sources with names like Camera Erotica Publications and ErotiPics. Some of the milder titles include "The Dirty Blonde 2," which comes with a self-prescribed adults-only warning, a weak … Read more