Internet, Search Engine | featured news

The idea behind mobile payments currently holds more appeal than the reality does. Can Google change that? Retailer support for mobile payments is hard to find outside major metropolitan areas, and even then, the gaggle of tap-to-pay options means your favorite NFC-friendly store may not accept your preferred mobile wallet technology. If a new leak proves true, Google may have worked its way around the hurdle, albeit in an NFC-free manner.

For Web sites that depend on their ranking in search results, Google’s secret — and frequently fluctuating — search algorithm can evoke a complex blend of admiration and fear.

Yahoo (YHOO) announced its first acquisition under CEO Marissa Mayer on Thursday, a New York-based mobile startup named Stamped that was founded by two former Google (GOOG) employees and received financing from celebrities including Justin Bieber.

The search giant now has brought its all-seeing eyes — mounted for the first time on a backpack — down into the Grand Canyon, showcasing the attraction's most popular hiking trails on the South Rim and other walkways.

Yahoo Inc's new CEO Marissa Mayer sketched out her plan for revamping the mobile and search advertising business, outlining publicly for the first time her vision for getting the ailing Web company back on its feet.

Marissa Mayer, who earned a reputation for decisive action and intensity during her 13-year stint at Google Inc, has spent her first months as Yahoo Inc CEO quietly moving the Internet pioneer back to its roots in technology.

Google Inc said its financial printer RR Donnelley filed a draft of its third quarter earnings statement without authorization on Thursday morning.

Google Inc.’s stock plunged suddenly on Thursday afternoon after a contractor released the search company’s third-quarter earnings report early, by mistake. The stock fell $68.19, or 9 percent, to $687.30 before trading was halted to give investors a chance to digest the news. Google’s report had been slated for release after the close of regular trading Thursday.

Yahoo named Henrique de Castro, a Google ad executive, as its new chief operating officer, deepening Chief Executive Marissa Mayer's stamp on the company.

Facebook Inc CEO Mark Zuckerberg soothed investors in his first major public appearance since the No. 1 social network's rocky May IPO, breathing life into its struggling shares after hinting at new growth areas from mobile to search.