IT services provider Accenture announced its deal to acquire OPS Rules, an analytics consulting company based in the US. The acquisition of OPS Rules enables Accenture to expand its machine learning and operations analytics capabilities. Last year, Accenture also acquired Gapso, an analytics services and solutions provider in Brazil that assists enterprises to solve supply chain and logistics challenges. OPS Rules, founded in 2012, specializes in the application of data science to create supply chain and operations analytics solutions. The US head-quartered Accenture aims to add new operations analytics professionals to its team that apply machine learning and optimization techniques to develop innovative analytics approaches for clients.

Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg says that within five to 10 years, artificial intelligence could advance to the point where computers can see, hear and understand language better than people. Zuckerberg stated this yesterday during the company's earnings call for the first quarter of 2016. Zuckerberg has already been focussing on AI through his company which already has research groups dedicated to advancing the company's capabilities in artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer vision and natural language processing and speech. Earlier this month, for example, it introduced an iOS feature called "automatic alternative text" that uses object recognition technology to provide spoken descriptions of Facebook photos to people who are visually impaired. Facebook has also unveiled new bot and chatbot technology as part of its Messenger Platform.

This story was delivered to BI Intelligence "E-Commerce Briefing" subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here. The online marketplace has acquired AI company Expertmaker to enhance the way products display on eBay's pages, according to Internet Retailer. This purchase is part of eBay's structured data push for sellers, which utilizes eBay's standard way of categorizing and displaying products for sale on its marketplace. The use of structured data is not mandatory, but eBay has been strongly encouraging sellers to adopt it. As of the first quarter of 2016, 60% of listed items on eBay used the structured data rules, according to the company's earnings report.

WIRE)--Accenture (NYSE:ACN) is expanding its machine learning and operations analytics capabilities by acquiring OPS Rules, a boutique analytics consulting company that specializes in the application of data science to create supply chain and operations analytics solutions. When the acquisition is completed, Accenture will add new operations analytics professionals to its team that apply machine learning and optimization techniques to develop fresh and innovative analytics approaches for clients across many industries. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Founded in 2012, OPS Rules has offices in Waltham, Massachusetts and Richardson, Texas. OPS Rules is led by David Simchi-Levi, a Professor of Engineering Systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and renowned supply chain and operations analytics expert.

Here are this week's top stories in fraud and big data technology: Thanks to its huge network of users, Sprint has access to vast amounts of user data. Three years ago it established subsidiary Pinsight Media to investigate ways of capitalizing on that data. Since then it has gone from serving zero to six billion ad impressions per months, based on "authenticated first party data" which it alone has access to. The fact that plain passwords are no longer safe to protect our digital identities is no secret. For years, the use of two-factor authentication (2FA) and multi-factor authentication (MFA) as a means to ensure online account security and prevent fraud has been a hot topic of discussion.

As a result, users are forced to wade through pages and pages of listings to find the exact item they're looking for. That could push a lot of customers to rivals like Amazon.com, Inc., which is why eBay has finally done something about it. On Thursday, eBay announced that it's agreed to acquire Swedish software make Expertmaker, which specializes in AI and machine learning systems that can help to analyze and organize massive sets of data. It's just what the doctor ordered for eBay, which hosts an average of 900 million listings at any one time. Expertmaker has actually been working with eBay since 2010, most recently helping out with a "structured data" project aimed at making eBay's site less cluttered than it currently is.

After an up-and-down start to the year, Chinese search giant Baidu issued earnings last week that outperformed on a host of key indicators. As we've come to expect from Baidu, revenue growth remained brisk, increasing at a healthy 31% year-over-year pace to total 2.5 billion. In keeping with its recent quarters, increased spending crimped Baidu's operating profits, which grew only 2.6% compared with the first quarter of 2015. Either way, Baidu's earnings exceeded expectations on the top and bottom line. What's more, Baidu's guidance for second-quarter sales proved better than analysts anticipated, sending the company's shares up in after-hours trading the day of the announcement.

After an up-and-down start to the year, Chinese search giant Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) issued earnings last week that outperformed on a host of key indicators. As we've come to expect from Baidu, revenue growth remained brisk, increasing at a healthy 31% year-over-year pace to total 2.5 billion. In keeping with its recent quarters, increased spending crimped Baidu's operating profits, which grew only 2.6% compared with the first quarter of 2015. Either way, Baidu's earnings exceeded expectations on the top and bottom line. What's more, Baidu's guidance for second-quarter sales proved better than analysts anticipated, sending the company's shares up in after-hours trading the day of the announcement.

At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Jandy Tomy, Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations. With me today on the call are Robert Apatoff, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Becky Sheehan, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, please remember that, during the course of this call, management may make forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Federal Securities Laws that address the Company's expected future business, financial performance, and financial condition. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different than those expressed in our forward-looking statements. In addition to the Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, please refer to the text in the Company's press release issued today for a discussion of the risks and uncertainties associated with such forward-looking statements. Also, please note that, on today's call, management will refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income, and free cash flow. The Company believes these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information for investors. Please refer to today's press release for definitions and calculations of these non-GAAP performance measures, as well as reconciliations of the non-GAAP performance measures to the Company's GAAP financial results. Now, I'd like to turn the call over to Robert Apatoff, President and Chief Executive Officer. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. I will provide a brief overview of our business highlights, integration efforts, and strategic and operating initiatives. Following my comments, our CFO Becky Sheehan will review our financial results and outlook for 2016 in more detail. Finally, I will provide a few closing remarks, and then we'll open up the call to take your questions.

Expedia is the most recognisable brand in the world of online travel and owns several others, including Hotels.com and Trivago. Its companies operate more than 100 branded points of sale in over 60 countries. As a parent company, Expedia has made a steady flow of acquisitions over the past 15 years, and last year stepped up its M&A strategy with the takeovers of online travel agencies Travelocity and Orbitz, and holiday rental website HomeAway. A major goal in this M&A activity is to control and maintain Expedia's market-leading position in an increasingly competitive market for online travel booking, and is reflective of a general industry trend towards consolidation. Expedia was the first online travel giant and has been at the forefront of the transition in the way people book holidays, but that counts for little in the disruptive world of digital.