The Federal Trade Commission's proposed $22.5 million settlement with Google for privacy violations doesn't impose stringent enough conditions on the company, the group Consumer Watchdog argues in new court papers. The tentative deal does not "prevent Google from continuing to profit from the misconduct that it previously engaged in," Consumer Watchdog says. "Indeed, it permits Google to continue to profit from its wrongdoing indefinitely," the group argues. The organization says the settlement should be rejected because it's not in the public interest. ...Read the whole story

At least one highly respected media industry economist -- Pivotal Research Group's Brian Wieser -- has already attributed a downgrade to the U.S. advertising industry to the effects of Hurricane Sandy. Wieser's new forecast, coming on the heels of especially tepid third-quarter earnings reports from the major agency holding companies, means the ad industry will not expand at all during 2012. ...Read the whole story

Google launched Universal Analytics Tuesday to help marketers sync and analyze data from across multiple marketing channels. The cross-channel tool aims to help marketers discover relationships between devices--desktop to tablets to phones to entertainment consoles--driving conversions. ...Read the whole story

Communities of people with a passion for specific topics can directly impact purchase behavior of others, according to a study. These are not social sites, but rather the next-generation of forum filled with groups of people who have a passion for a specific topic. ...Read the whole story

Internet radio service Pandora on Tuesday announced updated versions of its iOS and Android applications, offering expanded listening options, new artist pages, and timeline-focused user profiles. ...Read the whole story

Google brings its advanced voice assistant to iOS in an update to the search engine's core app. While limited to search queries, the unnamed assistant is fast and effective. ...Read the whole story