• by John Capone , December 29, 2010

The list of 10 most-read stories in Online Media Daily this year is dominated by tales of developments at Facebook and research into social media. However, the top slot (and in fact, this was the single most-read of all MediaPost stories this year) belongs to Joe Mandese's report on a leaked mobile ad program at Apple that might well go on to be known as "iAd," Mandese speculated at the time.

No. 1Apple Poised To Unveil 'iAd,' New Mobile Ad Platform Is Jobs' 'Next Big Thing'
By Joe Mandese
Even as the buzz built toward the ship date of the iPad, Apple was preparing to announce its "next big thing" -- a new personalized, mobile advertising system that could well be called the "iAd" -- Online Media Daily learned back in March.

No. 2Twitter Ad Platform 'Imminent'
by Laurie Sullivan
Seth Goldstein, chief executive officer and co-founder of socialmedia.com, led a panel in February at the IAB Annual Leadership Meeting 2010 in Carlsbad, Calif., that shed light on Twitter's strategy.

No. 3Look Ma, No Hands: More Than Half Of Companies Say They Are Using Social Media With No Strategy By Gavin O'Malley
While 78% percent of corporate respondents say their company is using social media, only 41% said they had a strategic plan in place to guide such activity, according to a report released in June.

No. 4What Type Of Social Media Ads Are The Most Effective?
By Gavin O'Malley
Among the seven most common formats, sponsored content ads -- in which consumers viewed a page that was "brought to you by" a leading brand -- were found to be the most engaging, said a study released in March.

No. 5Starbucks Surpasses 10 Million Fans, Closing In On Lady Gaga
By Mark Walsh
In July the coffee giant became the first brand to clear the 10 million-fan mark on Facebook.

No. 6Facebook Develops Conversion Tracking Tool: What's A Fan Worth?
By Laurie Sullivan
Facebook's plans to add a conversion tracking tool to its suite of advertising products came to light in late January.

No. 7Facebook's Bid To Organize The Social Graph (And Own The Nascent Platform)
by John Capone
Facebook came out from its self-imposed 60-day "lockdown" in October swinging, with Mark Zuckerberg declaring the social network's intentions.

No. 8Omniture And Facebook Ink Deal To Bring Analytics And Buying Tools To Social Marketing
By Laurie Sullivan
Omniture and Facebook announced a deal in March that turned the social network into an online marketing channel, complete with technology tools, audience segments and best practices.

No. 9Gartner: Mobile To Outpace Desktop Web By 2013
By Mark Walsh
Mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common Web access devices worldwide by 2013, according to a new forecast by research firm Gartner released in early January.

No. 10MIT Study Suggests Social Networks Influence Behavior
By Laurie Sullivan
A two-year study spearheaded by Damon Centola, an assistant professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, suggested that events on social networks can change behavior for health-related practices, but digging deeper into the findings revealed much more.