In the next few weeks, Facebook is expected to debut its Deals service in Austin, Texas, Atlanta, Dallas, San Diego and San Francisco, reports Internet Retailer. "To encourage what it calls social discovery -- that is, one consumer learning about something via Facebook's newsfeed -- Facebook will highlight in the news feed if a consumer clicks that he is interested in purchasing a deal, as well as if he bought a deal." As Emily White, Facebook's director of local, tells Internet Retailer: "The fact that every step of the process -- from interacting with the deal, booking the …

Facebook has appointed Vadim Lavrusik to the newly created position of journalist program manager, where, as CNN reports, he will build relationships with reporters and news organizations. As CNN explains it's part of a larger effort by Facebook "to ensure that its News Feeds contain more actual news." Lavrusik will be responsible for advocating for the use of Facebook as a reporting and promotional tool, while also maintaining the recently launched Journalists on Facebook page. Lavrusik, who most recently served as a "community manager" at tech-news site Mashable, will also help Facebook organize journalism-focused events, the first of …

Responding to Twitter's nastiest press coverage since its founding, co-founder Biz Stone gives us a quick lesson in news cycles. "The normal press cycle is to put a company on a pedestal and then knock it down," he blogs following Fortune's nearly 4,000-word story on why Twitter's trouble. "It's much more interesting that way." Furthermore, Stone says he welcomes the piece as a sign that Twitter is being taken seriously. "Twitter is an important company, and it's under scrutiny from journalists -- this is exactly how it's supposed to work." Yet, lacking from Stone's retort is any mention …

To date, there have been over 3 billion Android apps installed, while, from the fourth quarter of 2011 to the first quarter of 2011, apps downloads are up 50%. So said Jeff Huber, senior vice president, commerce and local at Google, during the company's earnings call on Thursday. As TechCrunch reports, Huber also mentioned that 350,000 Android devices are being activated per day. "In terms of breaking out share by device and market, Huber said the company doesn't reveal these numbers." "But he did say that with device partners, there is strength in U.S., Japan, Korea, and Europe …

Cementing its position atop the tablet app marketplace, Flipboard just raised another $50 million at what BoomTown calls an "eye-popping" $200 million valuation. "The elegant Flipboard -- which [CEO Mike McCue] recently told me ... had zero revenues thus far -- has changed the game on the consumption of social media," writes BoomTown's Kara Swisher. "Flipboard's app uses a book's page-turning metaphor," VentureBeat explains. "The app makes it much easier to browse through a variety of social and online media by pulling together diverse streams and reassembling them as a single stream that is easy …

Fortune takes about 4,000 words to say that Twitter is not well. "Besides the CEO shuffles, there are secret board meetings, executive power struggles, a plethora of coaches and consultants, and disgruntled founders," it writes. "These theatrics, which go well beyond the usual angst at a new venture, have contributed to a growing perception that innovation has stalled and management is in turmoil." Twitter exes say they spent much of last year investing in infrastructure to make the service more reliable, while they also have taken steps to address management shortcomings. "Yet even as management tackles its executive and …

San Francisco city officials this week convened an advisory council that includes local companies, such as Twitter and Zynga, to assess the city's tax structure, reports MarketWatch.com. "The announcement comes shortly after the city's Board of Supervisors voted to approve a payroll-tax exemption aimed at keeping microblogging service Twitter headquartered in town," MarketWatch notes. Twitter, Zynga and Yelp have all reportedly suggested that a move outside of San Francisco might make better financial sense, as they add new employees and gear up for possible IPOs. The ad-hoc advisory council will "recommend new policies related to high-growth technology companies," and …

Is Arianna Huffington a slave owner or a crowdsourcing pioneer? GigoOm feels compelled to pose the question now that one of Huffington's many blogger minions has filed a class-action lawsuit accusing her of "unjust enrichment" for profiting from the labor of others. Unfortunately for Huffington, the blogger behind the lawsuit, Jonathan Tasini, is a union leader, and settled a not-dissimilar case with The New York Times for $18 million back in 2001. What's more, "Tasini ... isn't the only one to pull out the strike talk," GigaOm notes. "The Newspaper Guild endorsed the idea of a strike against …

Further complicating the lives of behavioral-happy online advertisers, Apple has added a do-not-track privacy tool to a test version of its latest Web browser. "The movement accelerated following a report released in December by the US Federal Trade Commission, urging technology makers to implement the technology into their products to protect consumer privacy," ZDNet writes. "While legislation to put some teeth on enforcing it has stalled, browser makers like Mozilla and Microsoft have released do-not-track tools in the latest versions of their browsers." As The Wall Street Journal reports, "The move ... leaves Google Inc. as …

Egged on by Microsoft, the government is taking a closer look at Google and an Apps-related security certification called FISMA, which is required for some government contracts. "Google has maintained that Google Apps for Government was FISMA-certified," reports Business Insider. "Microsoft uncovered a court filing where the U.S. Department of Justice said it's not." This week, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) conducted a hearing into the matter, which sought more information from David McClure from the General Services Administration, would reportedly certified some Google Apps platforms. "According to press report,s the Department of Justice notified Google in December …