In the example of industry consolidation, digital marketing firm Sapient Corp. is acquiring New York-based independent ad agency Nitro Group LLC. The transaction, a combination of cash and stock, is valued at about $50 million, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing a person close to the deal. For several years, traditional advertising agencies have been buying up digital ad firms in an effort to grab some of the ad dollars flowing to the online sector. Now, the recession is forcing digital agencies to bulk up on traditional skills as marketers increasingly look to consolidate their accounts to …

Looks like Madison Avenue's present obsession with 1960s hippie culture is finally making its way online. In one instance, the revival of the '67 musical "Hair" -- which began in March on Broadway -- has inspired companies like CBS and Levi Strauss to "get groovy" with merchandise and music, the Times reports. David Goodman, president of the CBS Interactive Music Group in New York -- part of the CBS Interactive unit of the CBS Corporation -- introduced this month an Internet-only radio channel named "Hair on Broadway," featuring music from and inspired by the show; it can …

The State Department made even the biggest microblogging skeptics take a second look at Twitter, when it requested that the service not go down for scheduled maintenance, because of the situation in Iran after the presidential election. NYU professor Clay Shirky is not among the biggest Twitter skeptics, but he's certainly examined the service closely. TED Conferences Chris Anderson interviewed Shirky about the unfolding events in Iran and the use of social media. "This is it. The big one. This is the first revolution that has been catapulted onto a global stage and transformed by social media," said Shirky.

Fast Company's Chris Dannen draws the correlation between America's oil addiction and the one to Google. It hit him, he says, when he heard Al Gore refer to America as an "oil junkie." He's joking, of course. Or is he? "Surely as we use our cars to get around, we use Google to launch our Web queries," he says. And the cure to both of these addictions is the same: better, more efficient alternatives. "No matter what specific search task most of us undertake online, we always stupidly head to Google, our all-purpose search sedan," he points …

Microsoft filed its first ever lawsuit targeting click fraud this week, and more are expected. The software giant claims that the defendants drained the ad budgets of rivals on Microsoft's adCenter network by bombarding rival ads with clicks so that their own ads could get higher play in results. Microsoft says in its complaint that it ended up having to provide legitimate advertisers with $1.5 million in ad credits to compensate them for the defendants' actions. The company is asking for an injunction as well as more than $750,000 in compensatory damages. A Microsoft attorney tells the Times …

A new survey from Boston-based L.E.K. Consulting reveals that despite optimism expressed by many economists and media heads about the economy, U.S. consumers are actually more pessimistic currently than they were when a similar survey was conducted in October 2008. Among 3,000 consumers surveyed, about 75-80% said they were concerned about either losing their job or someone in their immediate family losing a job; about 50% think the economy won't improve for at least two years; while about 60% said they plan to spend less over the next six months. Consumers, meanwhile, estimated that their overall decline in …

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia has opened a section of its Web site for selling "how to" videos from recipes, entertaining, home decor and weddings. Powered by iAmplify -- a New York-based audio and video content distribution firm - "Martha University" will charge consumers from $5.95 to $12.95 for the videos. Martha Stewart herself tells paidContent that the new venture did not mean the company would be abandoning its ad-supported online model. Rather, it is designed to get a sense of what its consumer's appetite is for pay-to-download video. The videos are grouped into three categories: Recipes, …