Google competes for online shoppers

Google is upgrading its online shopping site as it steps up efforts to become a key player in a market dominated by Amazon.com and e-Bay, reports The Wall Street Journal Online.

Google Product Search aims to make it easier for users to look for soft goods like clothes, a fast-growing area in the $140 billion US e-commerce market.

Retailers pay Google to advertise products next to product-search results. The commission model, introduced last year, gives Google direct insight into which products are selling.

India's steady business reforms have translated well for the country as it ranks among the most improved world economies, according to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), states Financial Express.

“India eased business start-ups by establishing an online system for value-added tax registration. The country reduced the administrative burden of paying taxes by abolishing the fringe benefit tax and improving electronic payment,” says the IFC report on business regulation reform.

India continues to improve its electronic registration system for new firms by allowing online payment of stamp fees, a move to make it easier for local firms to do business, the report says.

Web development company, Cypress North, has unveiled EasyLegalBilling.com, a Web-based billing application designed specifically for legal practices, says TMCnet.

Easy Legal Billing is centred on the Legal Electronic Data Exchange Standard (Ledes) and allows firms to create and attach Ledes files along with legal invoices.

The application, that requires no software to be downloaded, provides detailed invoice and comment history for easy bill-by-bill tracking.