Local search ad company Marchex has agreed to buy Jingle Networks, operator of free directory assistance service 800-Free-411, for $62 million in cash and stock. "Founded in 2004, Jingle Networks also has a pay-per-call mobile ad network," Search Engine Land notes. Jingle's 800-Free-411 competed with GOOG-411, which was closed down last year, and Microsoft's Bing-411, which is still operating. "They do own 1-800-Free411, but that is not the reason we acquired them; in fact, this is a declining minority of their total call volume," Pete Christothoulou, COO of Marchex, stated. "The core rationale for the acquisition was ... …

A 7-month-old mobile ad startup named Kiip is pioneering what TechCrunch calls "an entirely new model for in-game advertising, one that offers users value instead of fighting an uphill battle for their attention." Kiip (pronounced Keep) sees the moments when players experience in-game achievements -- like advancing to a new level, completing a challenge or amassing a certain number of points -- as the ripest for user engagement. Unlike Tap.me, however, Kiip doesn't just show an ad when those moments are achieved, TechCrunch explains. Rather, Kiip has partnered with big brands like Vitamin Water, Dr. Pepper, and GNC …

To expand its network over three continents, broadband services provider Level 3 Communications has agreed to buy Global Crossing for about $1.9 billion. The value of the purchase is actually $3 billion, including the assumption of $1.1 billion in debt, the company said in a statement on Monday. It will also help reduce the pressure on prices, which have declined by as much as 30% a year in the industry, Donna Jaegers, an analyst at DA Davidson & Co., tells Bloomberg. "This is what telecom has needed for a long time," said Jaegers. Citing the companies' joint statement, …

According to Chinese press reports, Facebook has struck a deal with Baidu to launch a jointly owned social network in China. And, while Facebook isn't the first to team up with China's top search engine, such a deal has vast implications for both parties. "It will allow Mark Zuckerberg to tap the huge Chinese population's online habits and make loads of cash," writes Fast Company regarding the would-be deal. "The booming Chinese Net economy is a potential multi-billion-dollar affair that simply can't be ignored." "The deal makes sense for both sides," Business Insider writes. "On Facebook's …

With a focus on social, Google's recently returned CEO Larry Page is fast reshaping the search giant in his own image. Just days after top Google exec Jonathan Rosenberg resigned, "Page put key executives in charge of their individual business units," reports the Los Angeles Times. "They will report directly to him." In no particular order, Andy Rubin is now SVP of mobile; Vic Gundotra is now SVP of social; Sundar Pichai is now SVP of Chrome; Salar Kamangar is now SVP of YouTube and video; Alan Eustace is now SVP of search; and Susan Wojcicki is now …

Intel's venture capital arm is reportedly leading a $30 million funding round in digital textbook and tablet maker Kno. Sources tell Bloomberg that the funding may include equity and debt, and could be joined by Kno's previous investors. "The funding boosts Intel's involvement in the growing field of educational technology," Bloomberg writes -- a market that may surpass $47 billion this year, according to research firm Compass Intelligence. "The alliance may also help Santa Clara, California-based Intel find wider distribution for its chips in tablet computers." Founded in 2009, Kno raised $46 million in equity and …

Recommendation engine StumbleUpon is now driving over 1 billion visitors to sites that have been "Stumbled," The Next Web reports. Earlier this month, Marc Leibowitz, StumbleUpon's VP of Marketing and Business Development, told The Next Web that the service had grown from 6 million to 15 million users in 2009. StumbleUpon makes its money via advertised pages, which are presented via the same algorithm that dictates the rest of the content that you'll stumble. A fixed amount of money is paid for every recommendation of an advertised page. Those same social and curated signals that show you the cool …

In the face of new reports questioning Facebook's ability to impact ecommerce, the social network gave Inside Facebook some data that may prove otherwise. "For instance, Ticketmaster reports that each share of one of its events to Facebook earns it $5.30 in direct sales," it writes. The internal and external statistics indicate major increases in traffic, engagement and direct sales for retailers that have deeply integrated with Facebook. That said, "It is true that e-commerce on Facebook has been a long-heralded yet slow-to-materialize market segment," Inside Facebook writes. Yet notes: "Tools to facilitate sales and referrals on Facebook …

It looks like Google is about to enter the travel business. A source tell Dow Jones that the U.S. Justice Department will shortly announce it has reached an accord with Google to clear its proposed $700 million purchase of travel-software firm ITA Software. That said, "Under the accord, the Justice Department is expected to impose multiple conditions on the deal," Dow Jones writes, citing its source. ITA powers the top airline-ticket search and booking sites. As Dow Jones notes, several leading online travel companies, along with Microsoft, have urged Justice Department antitrust regulators to block the deal, arguing …

By its own calculations, paidContent suggests that The New York Times Co. paid about $25 million to build its new digital pay wall. "My understanding is that about a third of the company's reported $35 million in 2010 capital expenditures went to the metered system," paidContent's Staci Kramer writes. "Projected capital expenditures for 2011 range from $45 million to $55 million, according to the 2010 annual report, 'as we invest in, among other things, digital initiatives across our company.'" Earlier this week, NYT publisher Arthur Sulzberger called reports that the company spent about $40 million on …