On news that Steve Jobs is taking another medical leave of absence, the industry is once again asking what it means for the future of Apple. Marking Jobs' third leave of absence since 2004, the move is hardly without precedent. As he did during Jobs' prior medical leave in 2009, Tim Cook, Apple's chief operating officer, will run day-to-day operations at the company. Still "Jobs's leave raises uncertainty for Apple," asserts The Wall Street Journal. "While Mr. Cook previously stepped in to run the company during Mr. Jobs's last medical leave, the CEO …

Information services giant Experian has acquired a majority stake in Techlightenment, which develops social media marketing strategies for such clients as GlaxoSmithKline, Universal Pictures, and Dr Martens. Arjuna Gihan Fernando and Ankur Shah launched Techlightenment in 2007, according to Research Magazine. "The agency develops strategies and applications for social media marketing and advertising campaigns, while its brand research division monitors and analyses social data to understand what people are saying about products." Techlightenment will be part of Experian's marketing services division. The startup's revenue for the year ending February 28 is expected to be nearly $8 million. Experian says …

Some 15 months after Google combined AdWords and DoubleClick to form its display Ad Exchange, the so-called AdEx is showing what paidContent calls "surprising growth." Since last year, the AdEx tripled its number of transactions, Neal Mohan, Google's VP of product management, tells paidContent. As a result, in Mohan's estimation, AdEx publishers can expect to generate, on average, 188% more revenue compared to other bidding systems. "We didn't use a sample, we used all our publishers and real numbers," Mohan says of the lift. "We would find the price that was won at auction and compared it …

Consistent with its global expansion efforts, Groupon is reportedy in partnership talks with Chinese Internet giant Tencent. Sources tell BoomTown than any deal is likely to involve some sort of co-branded joint venture effort between the two companies. BoomTown's Kara Swisher says the partnership would be "a key strategic move for Groupon, given the hard-to-penetrate-if-you're-not-Chinese Chinese market." To date, has relied largely on acquisitions to expand its footprint. That's been the case with the recent launches of Groupon Hong Kong, Groupon Singapore, Groupon Philippines, and Groupon Taiwan following the acquisitions of daily deal sites uBuyiBuy, Beeconomic and …

In a story seemingly fit for its Op-Ed pages, The New York Times argues why Apple's iPad is hardly the cure-all that many publishers were hoping for. "The industry is discovering a lesson already learned by music labels and Hollywood studios: Apple may offer new opportunities with its devices, but it exacts a heavy toll," The Times writes. "Magazine publishers argue in particular that limiting magazine sales on the iPad to single issues (except in a handful of cases) has hamstrung publishers from fully capitalizing on a new and lucrative business model." Indeed, the vast majority of …

In a curious turn of events, Goldman Sachs has chosen to exclude U.S. clients from the private offering of up to $1.5 billion in Facebook shares. In a statement sent to The Wall Street Journal, Goldman said it "concluded the level of media attention might not be consistent with the proper completion of a U.S. private placement under U.S. law." Goldman reportedly began notifying clients of its decision this weekend. Goldman insists that the decision to limit the offering to "offshore" investors is not "required or requested by any other party," and the Securities and Exchange Commission …

In a bid to reach out to older women looking for sexier skin, Procter & Gamble has tapped actress Kim Cattrall to represent Olay Total Effects 7-in-1 Anti-Aging Body Wash & Body Lotion. And L'Oreal of Paris says it has signed rocker Gwen Stefani as its new face. (Stefani is also known for her fashion brands, L.A.M.B. and Harajuku Lovers.) Olay's Total Effects promises "younger looking skin in just 1 hour." The addition of Cattrall, 54, best known for portraying aging sex machine Samantha Jones on Sex & The City, indicates that P&G intends to use celebrities all along …

In 2010, The Huffington Post doubled ad revenue year-over-year, which, as previously reported, allowed the media company to reach profitability. So Greg Coleman, HuffPo's president and chief revenue officer, tells paidContent -- though he wouldn't discuss specific sales figures. Coleman did say that he fully expected the company to double revenue again this year. "We're putting plans and people in place that should allow us to double our revenues this year as well," he said. As paidContent notes, "Part of the plan includes still more ad sales hiring and getting advertisers to commit to year-long ads tied …

We'll believe it when we hear it, but The Post is reporting that Spotify is finally ready to make its U.S. debut. "After trying to crack the U.S. market for more than a year, Spotify is close to a deal with one major music company in the U.S. and has gained the support of at least one other," writes The Post, citing sources. If it does reach the states, the popular European music service could represent a legitimate challenge to streaming music rivals, and the entire digital music business. According to The Post, the Luxembourg-based company is …

In contrast to the secrecy of other tech giants, Twitter has been conspicuously open about its network and how users can shine within it. In one recent instance of Twitter "virality," singer Katy Perry retweeted a #LessAmbitiousMovies Tweet, but the hashtag didn't really take off until a few of her most influential followers -- Lizz Winstead and Barracks O'Bama -- carried the message to their own highly-active followers. The lesson? "Getting a great hashtag in front of the right audience is more important than getting it in front of a big audience," Robin Sloan, a member of Twitter's media-partnership team, …