API-managing software company Apigee just picked up predictive analytics startup InsightsOne for an undisclosed sum. “Think of it as a way for Apigee to become more valuable to its customers as more data becomes available,” VentureBeat writes. Said Chet Kapoor, Apigee CEO: “It’s not just good enough to process or transact with that data, which APIs, by the way, do a great job of … You need to get predictive based on what is happening, what will happen, or what could happen.”  

Facebook just bought app metric measurement startup Little Eye Labs for between $10 million and $15 million, TechCrunch reports. The Bangalore-based company makes software that analyzes the performance of Android apps, in particular. Said the startup in a statement: “With this acquisition, Little Eye Labs will join forces with Facebook to take its mobile development to the next level!”

Letting data be his guide, Mark Zuckerberg is increasingly willing to take Facebook in new directions -- even if that means going against previously stated beliefs. “While Zuckerberg says he is still uncompromising in his bigger mission to connect the world, increasingly as he matures, he seems more willing to change, and change fast to win,” Evelyn Rusli writes on The Wall Street Journal’s Digits blog. “Because he’s so data-driven … he is more willing to let go of his assumptions and course correct.”

LinkedIn admitted this week that hackers have created thousands of fake member accounts, which have copied data from real members’ profile pages. “The practice, known as data ‘scraping,’ violates LinkedIn’s user agreements and federal and state computer fraud laws,” Bloomberg reports, citing a complaint filed against the unknown hackers in federal court in San Francisco this week. “It has also strained and disrupted the company’s network computers.”

"Rapid improvements in big data analytics have moved marketers closer to making personalized offers in real time, but analyzing fresh data fast enough to close a sale or retain a customer remains an elusive goal for most companies," CMS Wire wrote.

What's the difference between "basic personalization" and real-time marketing? According to a ClickZ article, real-time marketing is one step above, and marketers need to learn how to move beyond basic personalization, "such as name and account personalization."

Programmatic advertising, fueled by Big Data, and individualized ads are "profoundly changing travel sales." That's according to Travel Weekly, which posted an article this week highlighting the role of programmatic advertising in the travel industry.

For Steven Sinofsky, board partner at Andreessen Horowitz, “disruption” is much more than a buzzword that media and tech experts use to sound relevant. Rather, as he explains in Re/code, it’s a complex approach to business with four distinct phases: disruption of incumbents; rapid and linear evolution; appealing convergence; and complete “reimagination.” Critically, Sinofsky notes: “When you’re the incumbent, your key decision is to choose carefully what you view as disruptive or not.” 

Advertising Age this week posted an article saying that a degree in engineering is the key to "unlocking doors to [the] marketing suite." The post argues that Big Data and programmatic trading have created a "need for leaders who know the creative side and the tech side."

Marketing Magazine today posted an article written by Millennial Media's interim MD, EMEA Zac Pinkham, and Stephen Jenkins, its marketing director, EMEA. In it, Pinkham and Jenkins explore mobile marketing in the year 2014, and highlight programmatic as one of the four "next" phases of the space.