Social networking bigger than e-mail

US Internet users are spending more Web time with social networking sites and games and less with e-mail and traditional portals, according to a study by Nielsen, says Business Week.

In June, Web users devoted 23% of their time online to social networking sites, up from 16% a year earlier, thanks largely to Facebook, according to Nielsen research released Monday.

Online games, propelled by social applications such as Zynga's FarmVille, rose to 10%, taking the number two position previously held by e-mail use.

The US began requiring financial institutions to block online gambling transactions last month, just as the latest attempt to legalise such betting started moving in the House of Representatives, reports Press of Atlantic City.

Federal Deposit Insurance sent a letter to all banks on 30 June, advising them it was time at last to enforce the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006.

The exceedingly long delay shows how divided Congress was - and remains - on banning online gambling. The act prohibits gambling businesses from accepting payments from US online gamblers.

BigCommerce, provider of multi-channel e-commerce software for online merchants, has released its mobile site, reveals Business News Daily.

It has also added eBay and Facebook integration into its e-commerce platform, bringing enterprise level services to small and medium-size businesses.

Mitchell Harper, co-founder and CEO of BigCommerce, said the new version is in response to some of online marketing's biggest trends: the growth of mobile, the social media explosion and the need to integrate multiple channels into a unified sales strategy.