LinkedIn's privacy changes raised a storm. Columnist John Mello wrote early on Thursday morning that the new changes in LinkedIn's privacy policy let it use its members' names and photos in third-party advertising that appears on the social network. He quotes the company's own words: "LinkedIn may sometimes pair an advertiser's message with social content from LinkedIn's network in order to make the ad more relevant." Mello said it also makes it easier for the advertisers to exploit the reputations of the service's members to sell products those members may not endorse. "Should a feature that so brazenly …

Thursday afternoon, the L.A. Times reported that LinkedIn has nixed the idea of turning its users into unwitting marketers for products and services. Says the story, "LinkedIn users began protesting this week a new form of advertising on the site called 'social ads' that used individual user's names and photos to promote products or services they recommended or companies they followed." The company said Thursday that it would stop displaying users' names and photos in ads. Instead, social ads will tell you when people in your network recommend a product or follow a company. Sometimes news travels …

Young people from across New York marched in Niagara Square on Thursday, demanding that tobacco companies change in-store marketing tactics, which they say is predatory. About 70 young people from a group that calls itself Reality Check held the spirited rally. "We've seen enough. We want our change," chanted the demonstrators, who were sporting bright blue shirts. The demonstration was held across from City Hall, where a plan to pass one of the nation's toughest laws regulating the sale and advertisement of tobacco products has gone nowhere for more than a year.

On Tuesday, General Motors held its second annual Global Business Conference for investors. Joel Ewanick, who heads GM global marketing said at the event that he wanted the Chevrolet brand to be more like Apple to differentiate itself from other mid-market brands like Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai and Ford. Columnist Richard Reade thinks that benchmark is off the mark. "Using Apple as a benchmark for car companies -- particularly Chevy -- would be weird at best, misguided at worst," and delineates his reasons, starting with Apple's "special club" cachet that he says Chevrolet can't possibly emulate.

Noelle Pirnie, senior global marketing manager at Unilever's Ben & Jerry's, offers a scoop of the company's latest Twitter effort to back Fair Trade products, in this op-ed column about how the Vermont company is "always looking for the next fun and funky thing." "With an awareness level hovering somewhere near just 30%, one of the challenges we face is to create awareness and educate consumers on the benefits of Fair Trade." She notes that the company, on May 2, launched "Fair Tweets" to support World Fair Trade Day. Pirnie said the effort, via Ben & Jerry's …

Chrysler has a new "No Payments for 90 Days" incentive program for all 2011 and 2012 Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Ram Truck models. The program is part of the company's summer clearance event. Vehicles must be financed through Ally Financial, and the offer is available only to qualified customers. The company is also adding incentives to 2012 model year vehicles, including $500 cash back on Chrysler 200, $1,000 on Jeep Liberty, $500 on Dodge Avenger or Journey, and up to $1,500 on Ram pickup.

San Francisco-based Gap has opened its third Athleta location. The store, on New York's Upper West Side, is the first on the East Coast, and is part of Gap's plan to use stores to accelerate the growth of the catalogue-and-Internet-sales label. The company has 10,000 customers who live within a couple of miles of the new store, according to Tess Roering, VP of marketing and creative at Athleta, which the Gap acquired in 2008. The two other stores are in the San Francisco area: a smaller test store opened last year and a flagship shop opened …

Apple has topped Exxon Mobil Corp. as the world's most valuable company. High-tech growth prospects exceeded faith in the oil industry's gushing profits. Exxon fell more than Apple on Wednesday, leaving it with a market value of $330.8 billion, compared with $337.2 billion for Apple at the close of U.S. markets. Yesterday was the first time Apple passed Exxon in intraday trading. In perhaps the greatest understatement since "We have a problem, Houston," Shaw Wu, an analyst at Sterne Agee & Leach, said in an interview "The Apple of today is different from the Apple of even a …

CVS/pharmacy is launching a new beauty collection called Salma Hayek, developed with the eponymous actress. The collection comprises 100 products within skin care, cosmetics, hair care and body and is available only at CVS/pharmacy locations nationwide and online at CVS.com/NuanceSalmaHayek. Prices range between $2.99 and $19.99. Hayek's beauty rituals and global travels inspired each product in the line. Ingredients like tepezcohuite, blue agave, prickly pear and lime enzyme, are being used. Said Mike Bloom, EVP merchandising and supply chain for CVS/pharmacy, "Our partnership with Salma Hayek in creating a premium beauty line that is accessible to all women …

Dan Yang, founder of the Santa Monica, Calif.-based Vinci, likes iPad for child's play. Yang self-funded Vinci, a startup with 40-plus employees, and has begun release of something called the Vinci Tab, a tablet geared toward children up to four years of age. The Vinci Tab has a red rubber handle around a seven-inch display and comes with the Android 2.3 operating system. It's likely to be a hit in wealthier enclaves as it comes with $389 and $479 price tags (two models.) For the rest of us infants, LeapFrog is coming out with LeapPad at $99 tablet. …