Category «E-Commerce»

Bookshop.org enters the e-book arena, giving indie stores a new way to compete with Amazon

Salon: “Bookshop.org founder and CEO Andy Hunter joked that the e-books question has been the bane of his business’ social media manager’s existence for a while now. “Every day she has people ask her, ‘When are e-books coming? When are e-books coming?’” Now Bookshop has an answer. On Tuesday, it launched a new digital platform …

Subjects: E-Commerce, Economy, Internet, Knowledge Management, Libraries

Data brokers can keep selling your social security number, says new CFPB chief

The Verge: “Treasure Secretary Scott Bessent has been named the Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the bureau announced today. Bessent quickly instructed the agency to “to stop all rulemaking, communications, litigation, and other activities,” reports Bloomberg Law. A source inside the CFPB told Bloomberg Law that his order “appeared to shut …

Subjects: E-Commerce, Economy, Financial System, Internet, Legal Research, Privacy, Search Engines

Meet the tracking companies that follow you around the internet

Datawrapper – “Considering the cookie consent banners that have come to grace our screens on a daily basis, it might not come as a surprise that companies are interested in extracting data from your online activities, and that browsing the internet is not exactly a private affair. Still, it is hard to grasp how this …

Subjects: E-Commerce, E-Records, Internet, Legal Research, Marketing, Privacy, Social Media

FTC Surveillance Pricing Study – Wide Range of Personal Data Used to Set Individualized Consumer Prices

“The agency details interim insights from staff perspective examining how companies track consumer behaviors to inform surveillance pricing. The Federal Trade Commission’s initial findings from its surveillance pricing market study revealed that details like a person’s precise location or browser history can be frequently used to target individual consumers with different prices for the same …

Subjects: E-Commerce, E-Records, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research, Privacy

Lawsuit accuses Amazon of secretly tracking consumers through cellphones

Reuters via MSN: “Amazon.com was sued on Wednesday by consumers who accused the retailing giant of secretly tracking their movements through their cellphones, and selling data it collects. According to a proposed class action in San Francisco federal court, Amazon obtained “backdoor access” to consumers’ phones by providing tens of thousands of app developers with …

Subjects: E-Commerce, E-Records, Internet, Privacy

Power of Community Posts: Conversation is the New Influencer

Research by Reddit, about Reddit – At CES 2025, Reddit released research outlining how conversation is becoming an influencer throughout the purchase journey.  “In the last year, our research has shown that 47% of social media users say “irrelevant search terms” are the most frustrating aspects of their product research). That is in part why …

Subjects: AI, E-Commerce, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Search Engines

Siri “unintentionally” recorded private convos; Apple agrees to pay $95M

Ars Technica: “Apple has agreed (PDF) to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that its voice assistant Siri routinely recorded private conversations that were then sold to third parties for targeted ads. In the proposed class-action settlement (PDF) — which comes after five years of litigation — Apple admitted to no wrongdoing. Instead, …

Subjects: E-Commerce, Internet, Legal Research, Marketing, Privacy

Inside Pinterest’s quest to restore internet optimism

Fast Company – “Most social media platforms have devolved into a network of bottom-feeders and rage-baiters. Yet somehow, Pinterest has kept its joy.  According to Sprout Social’s 2024 content strategy report, more than half of social users think of Pinterest as “more positive” than other platforms. When Bill Ready became Pinterest’s CEO in 2022, he …

Subjects: E-Commerce, Internet, Social Media

This Site Offers RSS Feeds for Pages That Don’t Have Them

Lifehacker: “Several sites, including Tumblr and Craigslist, have removed their RSS feeds. Other services, like TikTok, never offered an RSS feeds to begin with. This is annoying if you want to follow things without creating an account, the way you can with Bluesky and Mastodon. Even worse: there are even some news sites that don’t …

Subjects: E-Commerce, Internet, Knowledge Management, Social Media

Cash is King: The surprising truth about spending habits in a cashless world

University of Surrey: “In a paper published in Qualitative Market Research, researchers detail as cash fades from our wallets, so too does our awareness of spending, leading to impulsive and unnecessary purchases. The study suggests that maintaining a physical element in our payment systems may be vital for promoting responsible spending behaviours.  Dr Jashim Khan, …

Subjects: E-Commerce, Economy, Financial System

What is your digital footprint and how can you protect it?

Proton VPN Blog: “Whenever you do something online, you leave a trail of information behind that can be used to uniquely identify and track you. This is your digital footprint(new window). In this article, we’ll look at: What is a digital footprint? Digital footprint examples Why does your digital footprint matter? How to check your …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Commerce, Internet, Legal Research, Search Engines, Social Media