In a move widely held to presage a full blooded merger of their editorial teams, around ten staff have been made redundant as a result of the online move, with each being asked to reapply for new posts as part of a combined 'digital development and strategy' unit. Both titles are set upon a path of increasing cooperation within certain boundaries, owing to undertakings made by Rupert Murdoch at the time of his acquisition of the papers to preserve their distinctive identities.

2015 is the year when internet advertising spend will overtake combined newspaper and magazine ad spend globally, according to ad group ZenithOptimedia's latest forecast. That mark has already been passed in some countries, but not on a worldwide basis. The group reckons the internet attracted 15.2% more ad dollars globally in 2012, though total cross-media ad spend grew only 3.3%. ZenithOptimedia reckons internet ad spend will growth at 14 to 15% per year going forward and will be taking 23.4% of all advertising money in the world by 2015.

Britain's longest-running comic has embraced the world wide web and will now be available to download online and as a smartphone and tablet app. Dundee-based publisher DC Thompson announced in August that the weekly children's comic would make the transition into cyberspace following dwindling sales in recent years. Coinciding with the launch, the last ever printed issue sold out on Tuesday.

Announced by Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude on the first anniversary of the UK Cyber Security Strategy, the group aims to, "draw on the wider talent and skills of the nation in the cyber field," Maude said in a statement. "We are constantly examining new ways to harness and attract the talents of the cyber security specialists that are needed for critical areas of work," Maude said. Gurther details will be revealed next year.

Global video ad marketplace SpotXchange has announced its expansion into France and the appointment of Sophie Davidas as director business development. SpotXchange launched its European HQ in London in June 2011 and will be expanding across Europe as the market develops. SpotXchange forecasts that "France is set to overtake Germany as the second largest marketplace for online video advertising in Europe".

Predictive behavioural targeting solutions company Nugg.ad has initiated the founding of a new industry coalition called the Brand Advertising Committee (BAC), through IAB Europe. The BAC is a coalition made up of publishers, advertisers, agencies, ad tech and market research companies from across Europe, with the aim to establish branding standards for digital marketing.

"Knowing what it's like inside a media company," writes Alexis Madrigal, "let me state up front that there are epistemological problems in deciding from the outside why The Daily failed. I've yet to see an article about The Atlantic that understands how our site works under the hood, and why that has led to a relatively successful few years. That said, I do have a few thoughts about The Daily that I'd like to offer alongside my colleague Derek Thompson's.

A group of Austrian students who accuse Facebook of violating Europe's Data Protection Laws have launched a crowd-source funding drive for potential legal action against the social network. The europe-v-facebook.org group has indicated that it is ready to sue Facebook in Ireland, the company's international headquarters, but warns this could cost between EUR100,000 and EUR300,000 (GBP81,000 and GBP243,000).

Online news site The Newry Times was launched in December 2011 by three graduates struggling to find work in the region's recession-hit media. Editor Paul Malone tells the inspiring of how one year on, the website now regularly attracts 14,000 readers a month and some of the biggest advertisers in Ireland.

Pope Benedict's new handle on Twitter will be @pontifex, beating out other contenders that had been considered to showcase the thoughts of one of the world's most visible leaders. Benedict already has 1.2 billion "followers" in the standard sense of the word but next week he will have another type when he enters what for any 85-year old is the brave new world of Twitter. The Vatican said on Monday that the pope will start tweeting on Dec. 12.