Today is the official SOPA and PIPA protest day, and several websites, including Wikipedia and Google, have either gone dark or blacked out their logos in protest of two pieces of pending legislation aimed to stop the sale and distribution of copyrighted pirated music, movies, and physical goods. 

I knew that this was coming, of course, but it didn’t really hit home until I woke up this morning, and Wikipedia was gone, replaced by a black screen and a message. Craigslist, while not blacked out, had a similar message, as did Google and Amazon.

The names of these bills make them sound like good things, and it’s true that the vast majority of those who oppose SOPA and PIPA are against online piracy.  If passed, however, these bills would do a lot more than help to stop the sale of illegally manufactured, stolen, or pirated goods online. A lot more.

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Believe it or not, we’re nearly halfway through the first month of the New Year! Even though 2012 is just getting started, there are plenty of ecommerce and social commerce-related headlines being made. 

Today, we will examine the findings of some recent studies that say that tablet ecommerce will have a big impact in 2012, and find out more about ICANN’s new top level-domain names.

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  Have you ever shopped while intoxicated? While it may be difficult to pull this off effectively in a brick and mortar store, (think stumbling and wandering the aisles aimlessly) according to The New York Times, SWI (shopping while intoxicated) online is a rising trend.

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Welcome to another edition of Miva Merchant Ecommerce News. Today, we’ll take a look at much-anticipated launch of Facebook Timeline, and find out why tomorrow’s fourth-annual Free Shipping Day is significant for merchant profits as well as customer wallets.

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Today, we’ll take a look at Twitter’s new look and Brand Pages feature, and what they mean for ecommerce store owners, social media, and Twitter users.  We’ll also examine two online shopping trends: couch commerce, and shopping exclusively online for gifts this holiday season.

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It may be hard to believe, but October is halfway over, which means that Halloween is drawing ever closer and with it, Thanksgiving and the official start of the 2011 holiday shopping season. With this in mind, in this week’s Miva Merchant ecommerce news briefs, we’ll learn more about new online selling laws set to take effect in Europe, and take a look at the projected 2011 online holiday shopping outlook.

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Welcome to another edition of Miva Merchant Ecommerce News Briefs. This week, we’ll examine some location-based coupon security concerns for mobile users and the increasing influence of tablet usage in ecommerce, and share some Halloween ecommerce statistics.

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In this week’s ecommerce news briefs, we take a look at Google’s new Google Trusted Stores pilot program, examine the details behind the reopening of Amazon’s Affiliate Program to California residents,  and discover some interesting Facebook statistics.

Also, in honor of Halloween this month, we’ll be featuring Miva Merchant Halloween-themed stores each week right here on our blog, so if you are looking for some Halloween costume or gift ideas, or if you are a merchant with Halloween-themed products in your store, be sure to check out these bonus posts and/or get in touch with me (Aura) via email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or by commenting on this post.

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Welcome to another edition of Miva Merchant Ecommerce News Briefs. With Halloween just a month away, and Thanksgiving and Christmas two and three months away, respectively, both online and brick-and-mortar retailers and small business owners are gearing up for the busiest shopping season of the year.

With this in mind, our ecommerce news briefs today focus on the projected surge in mobile commerce over the holiday season, the rise of tablet-based ecommerce, and how they will affect the buying behavior of consumers and the marketing and business strategies of ecommerce store owners in the coming months.

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Welcome to this week’s ecommerce news briefs. Today, we’ll update you on Google’s Product Search changes, which go into effect today, take a look at how Facebook’s new format changes and features and the Google + open enrollment coincide, and examine some early holiday season 2011 shopping predictions.

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