• Dentsu Has Appetite For Digital Expansion, May Weigh Other Acquisitions by Joe Mandese

    Dentsu, the Tokyo-based agency holding company that is frequently overlooked in the Western Hemisphere, wants to change that -- and it's going to flex its digital muscles to do it. For Dentsu Holdings USA, the unit that oversees the Japanese ad behemoth's Western operations, acquisition of Innovation Interactive is its first move, says President-CEO Tim Andree. The next step will be leveraging its newly acquired assets, including 360i, SearchIgnite and Netmining to accelerate its presence in the digital media marketplace. The next stage, he said, could include other acquisitions. ...Read the whole story

  • FCC Opens Inquiry Into ETFs, Questions Carriers, Google by Mark Walsh

    Expanding its probe into cell phone early termination fees, the Federal Communications Commission Tuesday sent letters to the four major U.S wireless carriers and Google asking about their ETF policies. The opening of a formal inquiry follows the FCC's probe into Verizon Wireless' doubling of its ETF on smartphones from $175 to $350 in November. It also comes on the heels of last week's launch of the agency's Consumer Task Force, created to help safeguard the rights of wireless consumers. ...Read the whole story

  • Facebook Develops Conversion Tracking Tool: What's A Fan Worth? by Laurie Sullivan

    Facebook plans to add a conversion tracking tool to its suite of advertising products based on demand from the marketplace. The platform will let marketers track clicks through conversion, Facebook's Brian Boland told OMMA Social attendees in San Francisco on Tuesday. ...Read the whole story

  • YouTube Hails State of the Union 'Milestone,' Citizens To Ask Obama Questions by Laurie Sullivan

    YouTube on Wednesday will broadcast the State of the Union address on Citizentube and unveil a Google Moderator series that gives people the opportunity to submit questions to U.S. President Barack Obama. "With this opportunity, everyday citizens will have the same type of access once only reserved for journalists," says Steve Grove, head of News and Politics at YouTube. ...Read the whole story

  • Digitas Names Swartz SVP, Handling Samsung, Partners Google and YouTube by Gavin O'Malley

    Publicis' Digitas on Tuesday appointed Ashley Swartz as senior vice president for its New York office. Reporting directly to Seth Solomons, Digitas' Global Chief Marketing Officer, Swartz will be leading key initiatives for client Samsung, including all Samsung.com work. ...Read the whole story

  • Privacy Groups Question Beacon Settlement, Facebook's Control Over Foundation by Wendy Davis

    A coalition of privacy organizations are criticizing the proposed $9.5 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit stemming from Facebook's Beacon on the grounds that the deal could benefit the social networking site more than its members. ...Read the whole story

  • Topix And Savings.com Partner To Reach Local Coupon Clippers by Gavin O'Malley

    Online coupon destination Savings.com on Wednesday is expected to announce a partnership with news aggregator Topix to provide coupon content for the Topix Yellow Pages section. Per the deal, Topix will now automatically display available coupons on specific business listing pages in its Yellow Pages section, giving Savings.com a significant new distribution channel and potential audience. ...Read the whole story

  • Dynamic Logic Teams With Cymfony For Buzz Monitoring by Mark Walsh

    Dynamic Logic is partnering with buzz-tracking firm Cymfony to incorporate social media feedback into its flagship AdIndex brand metrics platform. AdIndex measures online branding impact using traditional gauges such as awareness levels, purchase intent, message association and recall via opt-in surveys, which are then delivered in aggregate reports. Through the Cymfony deal, Dynamic Logic will combine those established metrics with analysis of discussion about brands across social networks, blogs and messaging forums. ...Read the whole story

  • Yahoo Beats 4Q Expectations, But Revenue Still Down by Mark Walsh

    Yahoo's revenue declined for the fifth straight quarter, but the fourth quarter drop of 8% was an improvement over the prior three months as the Web portal benefited from resurgent ad spending. For the quarter, Yahoo posted net revenue of $1.26 billion, down from $1.38 billion a year ago. Analysts had expected $1.23 billion. ...Read the whole story

point-of-view Video Advertising Afterschool Session: Understanding Video Ad Impressions by Jayant Kadambi

Too often one January's bold predictions ("The Year of Second Life!") become the following December's sheepish footnotes. One of 2010's few safe bets, it seems, ... ...More

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