Reston, Va. - Online bargain-hunters were expected to flood the Internet on Monday in search of deals on "Cyber Monday," the unofficial kickoff of the online holiday shopping season. According to comScore, the online holiday shopping season already is off to a strong start, with sales on Black Friday up 1% from a year ago. Combining Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, online sales rose 2%, the firm said.

Reston, Va. - More than $14 billion has been spent online so far this holiday season, up 17% from the same period a year ago, according to new statistics from Internet audience metrics provider comScore.

Reston, Va. - U.S. consumer spending on "Cyber Monday" rose 21% over last year to a record $733 million, with Amazon.com (NASD: AMZN) and Walmart.com (NYSE: WMT) leading the pack of online retailers, according to a report from Internet audience metrics firm comScore (NASD: CSOR). Overall, 44% of Internet users on Cyber Monday visited an online retail site or comparison shopping engine, and 6% made an online purchase.

Reston, Va. - Online retailers on Monday were expected to generate more than $700 million in sales -- an all-time single-day high -- according to Internet audience metrics firm comScore.