Brands were quick to take advantage of Germany's victory in the World Cup final against Argentina last night. Samsung post a chart of the 'passion pulse' which measured hot spots for tweets mentioning the final around the globe. Adidas took advantage of its enviable sponsorship links to post a YouTube clip 'Germany 4ever'. Perhaps the most fortuitous brand was Beats by Dr Dre who were able to congratulate winning goal scorer, Mario Gotze, who had starred in their recent commercial.

SoundCloud would appear to be on the verge of cutting three of the largest record labels a deal to avoid being taken to court for copyright violations. The Times is reporting negotiations are near completion and will be Universal Music, Sony Music and Warner Music given between 3 to 5 per cent of the company and a percentage of future revenue. This would give the company a value of around $500m to $600m.

The Times is the only national newspaper to increase its circulation year on year in June, according to ABC. It grew by 0.6 per cent to a daily circulation of 350,530. The next best performer was The Guardian which dropped by just 0.9 per cent to 185,313. Both papers' Sunday sister titles fared best with The Observer and The Sunday Times dropping by 2.53 per cent and 2.91 per cent respectively. Every other newspaper posted decreases with the Daily Record slipping the most at -15.33 per cent.

A new kitty of $100m to support "the best ideas from the best European entrepreneurs" is coming to London as Google Ventures launches a new base. The start-up will support other start-ups in getting off the ground with not just money but supporting around engineering, design, recruitment and marketing. Bill Maris, managing partner of Google Ventures, said in a Google blog post: "We believe Europe's start up scene has enormous potential."

Apple has successfully applied to the European Court of Justice to have its stores trademarked. The initial attempt to trademark its store design was made to the German government, which sought guidance from the ECJ. It paves the way for its UK stores to be trademarked as well. The ruling concluded that its stores are distinct from other brands' outlets in the way goods are presented and staff carry mobile point-of-sale terminals.

Made.com, the mostly online furniture store, is attempting to bridge the gap between its physical showroom and online. In-store tablets, coupled with NFC technology, allow customers to press a screen button to find out more about items they are interested in. The list with links to further information can be emailed to the customer, not only giving them a resource for further research, but allowing Made.com to capture email addresses of in-store shoppers.

British national newspapers are considering a more comprehensive system to measure readers across print, tablet and mobile in a move that could see the end of the National Readership Survey (NRS). Newsworks, the marketing body for the industry, will appoint a strategy consultant to investigate a more modern means of measuring audiences. This effectively serves an 18-month notice period on the NRS, although it will be taking part in the review.

Microsoft is embracing the mobile-first era by moving away from its "devices and services" boilerplate. New CEO Satya Nadella explained the new strategy in an email stating: "At our core Microsoft is the productivity and platform company for the mobile-first and cloud-first world." By shifting the focus to mobile and the cloud, the company claims it will be able to recognise that every user is a "dual user" with work or study requirements as well as leisure interests.

Eurostar is not commenting on industry rumours, reported in Campaign, that it is looking to expand its European advertising roster beyond Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO. The agency won its pan-European advertising brief two years ago in a pitch against CHI & Partners and Leg, partnered with Havas Worldwide London. The previous incumbent was Fallon.

New advertising business opportunities are down 17 percent in the first half of the year but up 44 percent for direct marketing and CRM, according to figures from AAR. Overall, new business opportunities are down 13 percent compared to the first half of 2013. However, although total advertising reviews that completed in the first six months are down, there has been an increase from two to nine in the number of accounts worth more than GBP20m.