Reuters: Web retailers facing pre-holiday changes

It's that season again: analysts putting their lists together of estimates for the coming online e-commerce holiday binge. So far they seem pretty optimistic, although some think that much of the projected 20 percent rise in sales will come only because the increasingly used shopping comparison services will cause many e-tailers to offer discounts, free shipping and all sorts of consumer friendlies that investors loathe. Ernst & Young predicts 15 to 20 percent growth. Jupiter prognosticates it'll be about 24 percent.