Matthew Hicks

Microsoft Internet Explorer is continuing to lose share in the browser market, as its much-smaller competitors chisel at its dominant position, new Web site visitor data shows. Microsofts browser has dropped by 1.8 percentage points over the past three months to 93.7 percent of the market, according to data provided Wednesday by Web analytics vendor […]

FindWhat.com Inc. on Tuesday launched a new search-based advertising program that lets advertisers pay based on phone calls to their businesses rather than on Web site clicks. Called pay-per-call, the program works similarly to sponsored-links programs, where advertisers bid for a higher placement in paid search results. But instead of having a link that takes […]

Google Inc. on Tuesday updated its local search service with a focus on maps and providing more relevant results. Google Local combines results from the Web with business-directory information to display local business listings and information. Google lets users conduct local searches either from its main Web query, displaying local results atop broader Web results, […]

IMlogic Inc. on Tuesday launched a free tool to let enterprises detect and block the use of instant messaging, peer-to-peer file sharing networks and voice-over-IP applications within their walls. Called IM Detector Pro, the software provides a first step for organizations to get a handle on the extent of such traffic flowing on their networks […]

Mozilla Firefox, the open-source alternative to Microsoft Corp.s dominant Web browser, is preparing for prime time with the first preview of its 1.0 release and a new marketing campaign. The Mozilla Foundation on Tuesday plans to release a preview of Firefox 1.0 that incorporates the final set of features for the browsers full version, said […]

Keynote Systems Inc. has agreed to buy Web-based customer research vendor Vividence Corp. Keynote, which provides services for monitoring the performance of Web sites, announced on Friday that it will buy Vividence for $20 million in cash in a transaction expected to close within 30 days. Another $6 million could be paid by Sept. 30, […]

Changing a Web hosting provider and domain-name information just got easier. VeriSign Inc. on Thursday announced it has sped up its updating of the .com and .net domains. Rather than twice a day, the registry now is sending a file of .com and .net changes every few seconds to the 13 distributed DNS servers for […]

Oracle Corp. overcame a major hurdle by winning a favorable verdict in the governments antitrust lawsuit against it, but observers said its battle to buy competitor PeopleSoft Inc. remains far from won. A federal judge on Thursday ruled in Oracles favor, finding that the Department of Justice had failed to prove its antitrust allegations. The […]

America Online Inc. on Wednesday released an update to its instant-messaging service for Windows with an eye on digital-photo sharing and personalization features. AOL Instant Messenger 5.9 integrates AOLs “Youve Got Pictures” service so users can store photos through AIM and then share them through instant messages and e-mail. Instant messaging users are becoming more […]

Yahoo Inc. is launching its first public beta of a travel search engine based on its recent acquisition of online travel company FareChase Inc. Yahoo plans to make the test site available late on Tuesday and is billing it as a prototype for eliciting user feedback and testing the best approach to searching travel provider […]