Google Inc. slightly increased its leading market share among U.S. Internet-search engines last month, while Microsoft Corp.'s  Bing search engine also gained market share, according to market researcher comScore. Google's U.S. market share rose 0.1 percentage point to 66.5% in April from the prior month. Microsoft's share also edged up 0.1 percentage point to 15.4% last month. Yahoo Inc.'s sites remained in the No. 3 spot, slipping 0.2 percentage points to 13.5%. IAC/InterActiveCorp.'s.com's share and AOL Inc.'s shares were unchanged at 3% and 1.6%, respectively. Americans conducted 17.1 billion core search queries last month, down from 18.36 billion in March. Google again ranked first, with 11.4 billion searchers, followed by Microsoft, with 2.6 billion, and Yahoo with 2.3 billion. ComScore has shifted how it reports its data after Yahoo's "contextual searches" skewed earlier results. The group measures U.S. explicit core searches, which exclude contextual searches that don't reflect any intent by users. More»

Twitter is contesting a US court order ordering it to hand over the message history of one of its users. A New York state court has called on the firm to release tweets written by an activist who took part in the Occupy Wall Street protests last year. The micro-blogging service disputes a judge's ruling that messages are owned by the firm rather than its users. The American Civil Liberties Union commended the company for defending free speech rights. Twitter's lawyer, Ben Lee, said: "Twitter's terms of service make absolutely clear that its users 'own' their own content. Our filing with the court reaffirms our steadfast commitment to defending those rights for our users." The case centres around Malcolm Harris, managing editor of the New Inquiry website. He was arrested on 1 October along with hundreds of other campaigners during a march across Brooklyn Bridge. Prosecutors claim tweets by Mr Harris would reveal that he was "well aware of police instructions" ordering protesters not to block traffic. Mr Harris's lawyer had tried to block access to the postings, but a judge ruled that once the messages had been sent they became the property of Twitter, meaning the defendant was not protected by Fourth Amendment protection against unlawful search and seizure. Twitter's lawyers argued that the judge had misunderstood how the service worked, noting that the Stored Communications Act gave its members the right to challenge requests for information on their user history. More»

Amazon.com Inc unveiled a new effort to develop original comedy and children's TV shows to distribute over the company's video streaming service. The move is part of a broader push by Amazon to produce its own content, including video and e-books, to sell to its millions of customers over the Internet. The world's largest Internet retailer said people will be able to submit ideas for television series to the website of its Amazon Studios unit. Amazon said it will option one new project per month and add it to a development slate where it will be tested for viability with an audience. Amazon has been spending heavily in recent quarters to add movies and TV shows to its video streaming business, increasing competition with Netflix Inc. More»

Souq.com -the largest online retailer in the Arab world- said on Sunday that it has acquired Sukar.com, the Middle East's first and leading online private shopping club. The retailer said in a statement that the move was "aimed at consolidating the market leadership of both enterprises in the online space". Sukar.com, which was established in 2010, is a market leader in the fashion and lifestyle e-commerce category, offering more than 700 of the world's top fashion and lifestyle brands, the statement said. More»

Wondering where to go on your vacation this year, and what to do? A growing number of "social travel" start-ups offer alternatives to the trusty, dusty guidebook. Sites like Twigmore and Triptrotting help you troll your social networks for friends who have friends in new places, then hit those people up for advice from a local's perspective -- or arrange meet-ups when you get there. Another new site, Trippy, helps you keep track of all those interesting places you've come across while researching travel destinations. And when you've decided where to go, it finds connections in your networks that can help you get there. More»

The No. 2 soda company said Monday that it's partnering with Twitter to provide streaming videos of live music concerts to Pepsi's followers on the social networking site. The deal is part of Pepsi's new global ad campaign that will also feature a TV ad with singer Nicki Minaj. The company, based in Purchase, N.Y., isn't yet saying which musicians will be featured for the Twitter concerts this summer. The marketing push comes as Pepsi looks to revive the cola wars with The Coca-Cola Co., with up to $600 million in additional marketing slated for this year. More»

Yahoo plans to double its Olympics presence this summer as it aims to be the Games' top website for the fourth straight year. Yahoo is sending 25 people from around the world to cover the Summer Games in London - about "twice as big" as it had in the Winter Games - including U.S. gold medal winners Shannon Miller and Dan O'Brien and many of its sports columnists and reporters. It also plans to cover the games in dozens of languages. The move is an effort to outshine competitors. Despite not paying for exclusive rights to cover the games, Yahoo says it has been the No. 1 global destination for Olympics coverage for the past three games. In February 2010, Yahoo Sports had 32 million unique visitors and 254 million page views for the Vancouver Games, it says. More»

JUST three weeks after the Federal Court found Google was responsible for false and misleading advertising through its AdWords search engine advertising software, the company has launched a video version of the product, targeting businesses that previously found advertising on video unaffordable. Connecting ads to videos in YouTube based on search terms has been restricted to big-spending, big-budget companies. But Google has opened the "do it yourself" system to videos, as the Australian stated. More»

Avaya Inc. has launched a new series of compact Ethernet switches designed exclusively for small and midsize enterprises (SME), remote branches, and open environments such as classrooms and hospitality suites. The new ERS 3500 Series comprises six Fast and Gigabit Ethernet switches available in 10 and 24-port configurations. More»

Former Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz received a compensation package valued at $16.4 million in her final year on the job, including a $3 million severance payment after the troubled internet company abruptly fired her last September. Bartz, now 63, stands to make even more from the nearly 386,000 shares of restricted stock and nearly 416,000 stock options that vested upon her ouster, according to a Friday regulatory filing from Yahoo. Options and awards she got earlier in the year tallied at $12 million. She also could still reap a windfall from 5 million stock options that she received when the company hired her in January 2009. None of those 5 million options have vested because Yahoo's stock hasn't yet hit any of the required price targets. More»