Amazon Services Inc. challenged WeddingChannel.com and TheKnot.com with Friday's formal introduction of its own online wedding registry. Couples registering at www.amazon.com/wedding can choose from various items on the Seattle retailer's site. Checklists and planning tools will help registrants track activities ranging from engagement announcements to thank-you notes.

Internet blog Engadget created a stir among digital game lovers when it wrote that Microsoft Corp. will give away thousands of its new Xbox video game consoles in a promotion with soda maker PepsiCo.

After several days of acrimonious blog postings and behind-the-scenes discussion, Creative Commons and word-of-mouth marketing organization BzzAgent have called off their short-lived marriage. Creative Commons, a copyright reform group, had agreed to accept pro bono help from BzzAgent, but a storm of objections to the partnership from Creative Commons supporters led to the plug being pulled on a 12-week word-of-mouth marketing campaign.

Bloggers -- those Internet-based writers without rules -- are fighting back against criticism that their work is unreliable, libelous or just poorly done. More than 300 bloggers came to town Friday for a two-day conference that was heavy on teaching techniques used by journalists in what bloggers term "the mainstream media." One class taught students how to access and analyze government statistics.

Web search leader Google Inc. has applied for U.S. and international patents on technology to rank stories on its news site based on the quality of the news source, according to patent applications obtained by Reuters on Thursday.

Warner Bros. Pictures has launched two sites packed with viral components to support its June 1 release of teen flick "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants." The primary film site is heavy with interactive components, most of which can be customized and shared with friends. The Flash intro is dynamic, with one of the four lead actresses from the film reading a welcome message. Surfers who link to the site from Batanga, a Latin music Web site, will hear that greeting in Spanish.

A search for personal data on ZabaSearch.com -- one of the most comprehensive personal-data search engines on the net -- tends to elicit one of two reactions from first-timers: terror or curiosity. Which reaction often depends on whether you are searching for someone else's data, or your own. ZabaSearch queries return a wealth of info sometimes dating back more than 10 years: residential addresses, phone numbers both listed and unlisted, birth year, even satellite photos of people's homes.

The world's largest software company is following the tire tracks of Vespa U.S.A. Microsoft wants to hire Web loggers to promote its next big thing, the release of the Longhorn operating system. Earlier this week, Vespa announced it wants to hire bloggers to create a buzz about scooters in general, and its products in particular. Microsoft wants to do the same thing for software.

Data giant Experian demonstrated its commitment to online marketing in a dramatic way Wednesday. It bundled its online businesses into an interactive division while simultaneously announcing the $380 million purchase of lead generation player and major online advertiser LowerMyBills.com.

Whether Al Gore did or did not invent the Internet, the former vice president will be recognized for playing a substantial role in its development at next month's 9th Annual Webby Awards. Gore will receive the Webby Lifetime Achievement citation "in recognition of (his) pivotal role in the Internet over the last three decades," the awards organizers said. Vint Cerf, a founder of the Internet, will make the presentation.