Dentsu Aegis says its acquisition of social media management agency Tempero is a response to the rising number of brands trying to bring consistency to how they manage their reputations worldwide, a shift the network's UK CEO Tracy De Groose believes will "take off" once brands stop treating social like a media channel. The Japanese agency network has high hopes for the UK-based agency, and intends to turn it into a "centre of excellence" for social media.

Overall Facebook advertising costs and ROI have seen an increase from last year, Kenshoo stats from November have found. The figures show there was an aggregate average 700 percent increase in CPM because of higher demand for news feed ads. Kenshoo also suggested that increased mobile usage by consumers -- and competition from advertisers for mobile ad views -- had pushed up prices. ROI on Facebook ads has almost doubled, which it suggested is down to the better performance of news feed ads.

Advertisers can now serve autoplay video promotions within Facebook's mobile apps as part of their app install ads -- one of a string of buying, creative and targeting tools the social network hopes will boost demand for its mobile app advertising offering. While the ability to run video ads already existed, the automatic playback feature increases the chance of them being viewed within an app. The move is bolstered by a flurry of other services that Facebook is rolling out to convince advertisers to use its mobile app ads.

Activia's La La La ad featuring Shakira has been named the most shared video of the year by Unruly in its Video Sharing Awards (VSAs). The winners, including those who were deemed the top shared brands in different sectors, were all named in a Twitter ceremony. Samsung was named the most shared tech brand, while Activia topped the food and drink category, and Budweiser was the most shared alcohol brand. Vodafone was the most shared telecommunications brand, while Volkswagen topped the auto list.

Absolut Vodka has appointed AnalogFolk to manage its global social media activity. The appointment follows a competitive pitch process. AnalogFolk will create content for the brand's social media channels and will be responsible for bringing Absolut's brand experiences to life on social channels through branded content and editorial publishing.

Google and Facebook's domination of UK digital advertising has been underlined by the prediction they will hoover up more than half of the GBP8bn market for the first time next year, according to eMarketer. The UK operations of Google and Facebook will make a combined GBP4.1bn in 2015 -- a 50.8% share of the total expected to be spent on ads on Web sites, smartphones, online video and social media next year. Facebook UK's ad revenues are forecast to grow by 55% this year to GBP576m and by an additional 29% next year to GBP743m.

Google has attempted to highlight what brands can do to make their ads more visible across devices after research found that 56 percent of impressions are not viewable on the average web page. In an attempt to create more transparency around viewability, Google has used Google Active View's technology to collect data and create a deeper insight into how ads are viewed onscreen.

Vodafone chief executive Vittorio Colao has denied he is planning a colossal takeover of Liberty Global, the owner of Virgin Media. In a marathon meeting with major shareholders earlier this week, Colao sought to dampen claims that he will respond to BT's efforts to acquire a mobile network by swooping for fixed-line assets across Europe such as Liberty Global. Mr Colao said he would "happily" look at an acquisition of Liberty Global's German cable network, if controlling shareholder John Malone wished to sell.

Vodafone could overcome stringent German competition rules to complete an GBP80bn-plus takeover of Liberty Global, the cable group that owns Virgin Media, according to senior City legal sources. Claims that Vodafone is preparing a bid for Liberty Global intensified on Monday, as the telecoms sector reacted to last week's revelation that BT was in talks with the owners of EE and O2. Regulatory hurdles in Germany have been seen as one of the main challenges to a deal.

The publisher of "The Times" and "The Sunday Times" made an operating profit of GBP1.7 million last year, reversing more than a decade of losses. Revenues were flat at GBP347 million, as an increase in subscribers helped to make up for a decline in print circulation and advertising revenues, according to accounts filed at Companies House. The number of digital subscribers to "The Times" rose by 8 percent year-on-year to 152,000. Subscribers to the digital editions of "The Sunday Times" rose by 12 percent to 154,000.