Thousands of Americans were clicking Internet sites Friday, donating millions to help victims of Sunday's earthquake and tsunamis. The giant Internet retailer Amazon.com placed a link to the American Red Cross prominently on its opening page. By midday Friday, more than 100,000 people had donated more than $8 million.

The big e-sellers don't have the huge real estate costs of the bricks-and-mortar stores. But the online giants are continuing to boost spending in one critical area: advertising. Especially during the holidays. It's no accident that eBay and Amazon.com might have seemed almost as ever-present during the holidays as department store Santas and mistletoe.

SBC Communications said on Monday it would offer a television set-top box that can handle music, photos and Internet downloads, part of SBC's efforts to expand into home entertainment.