The Harvard Business Review reports that the release of top-level domain names by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers will become a significant threat to the rights of brand owners. The more TLDs, the greater the opportunity for cybersquatting. HBR warns that brand owners must protect the names by pre-registering with the Trademark Clearinghouse, created by ICANN to verify owners.

Silverpop has created the Digital Marketing University, a roadshow stopping in multiple cities aimed at teaching marketers how to become more successful in digital campaigns. The free, half-day events starting in Salt Lake City and Seattle give marketers tips and tactics to create one-to-one relationships with consumers. The sessions will cover a variety of media.

 

Search marketers will read a lot more of these types of stories as wearable electronics matures. Last week we heard about the New York City police department buying a couple of pairs of Google Glass. This week it's the Virgin Atlantic crew. USA Today reports that Virgin Atlantic began a pilot program where its concierges in the Upper Class lounge at London's Heathrow Airport will wear Google Glass to check in passengers. Nancy Trejos tells us how it's done.

Google will restore one of Silicon Valley's most iconic buildings once used to house Navy blimps. Federal officials chose a Google subsidiary to restore the landmark Hangar One at Moffett Field and operate the two runways at the airfield, located a few miles from the company's headquarters. A spokesman for the aviation firm H211 would not rule out the possibility Google might continue to use the Moffett runways under a new lease, reports the San Jose Mercury News.

Ford Motor is steering more dealer advertising dollars toward digital media and into search engine marketing. The automaker in January began offering to reimburse its 3,200 dealers for part of their cost to advertise on Google and other search engines, reports Automotive News. A source said Ford's reimbursement will average $500 per dealership.

Google's sale of Motorola Mobility to Lenovo didn't include the mobile research division, Advanced Research and Projects, headed by Regina Dugan, a former director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Google cofounder Larry Page in a blog post said the company has not exited the hardware business with the sale of Lenovo, and will focus on wearable computing and the home market.

Too many marketers forget the accomplishments of Microsoft's endeavors. Ben Taylor gives us four things the company continues to do well, pointing to the Windows mobile phone interface and office suite software as two examples. Microsoft looked toward the cloud to support the enterprise before its rivals, and built a game console into an entertainment center with help from its search technology, even when others failed.

Google lost an emergency appeal in the French court that would mean posting a notice on its French home page for 48 hours telling users it violated their privacy. The French court on Friday refused Google's plea to suspend an order requiring that the post would explain the company was fined $204,000 for violating data collection laws. GigaOm points to the Google home page, along with the press release describing the order and fine.

A new version of Klout supports a content platform to help users share the correct content. The Create tab aims to help users find articles and posts worth sharing, rather than suggest content to share by identifying new content beginning to trend as well as items that closely match the interests of members that are already following the member's lead. Matt Southern explains how it works.

Reports suggest that Google's rainbow version of its Sochi Winter Olympics logo on its search page makes a statement about Russia's gay propaganda law. The page now shows a winter sports competitor above each of the six letters in Google's name set against backgrounds in the six colors on the gay pride flag: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. The page also has a quote from the Olympic charter that highlights the right to practice sport without discrimination.