COVER STORY
What’s the biggest social network in the world? Careful, it’s a trick question. I started asking it about three years ago when I learned the answer from Tynt, a start-up that had stumbled upon a method for tracking what content is so important to us that we share it with others or keep it for … Read the full story by Joe Mandese
NewsDetermined to hang onto younger users, Facebook is shelling out a staggering $19 billion to buy mobile messaging app WhatsApp. The deal marks Facebook's biggest acquisition to date and overshadows … Read the full story by Gavin O'Malley
- Commentary
It speaks the truth. Ads suck the life out of the consumer experience. WhatsApp's success says what no one in our industry wants to hear: "Consumers don't want to see … Read the full story by Ari Rosenberg
NewsIf WhatsApp wasn't growing fast enough already, the messaging app is enjoying a fresh wave of adoption following announcement of its blockbuster $19 billion acquisition by Facebook. The spike in … Read the full story by Mark Walsh
- Commentary
A story this week in an ad trade said there's evidence that Twitter's audience of people who tweet while they watch TV isn't growing as quickly as Twitter might like, … Read the full story by George Simpson
NewsBrand marketers say they will more than double the share of their budgets being allocated to "social media" -- boosting it to an average of 18.1% from 7.4% currently -- … Read the full story by Joe Mandese
NewsTwitter has become a linchpin of brands' social media marketing efforts, especially when it comes to capitalizing on up-to-the-minute trends and big events like the Super Bowl and awards shows. … Read the full story by Mark Walsh
NewsNearly two-thirds (65%) of Internet users globally go online via mobile phones, and 29% do so on tablets. Smartphone Web users increased 19% last year to 994 million, while those … Read the full story by Mark Walsh
CommentaryA funny thing happened this week on the season's first two live editions of Fox's "American Idol." During the Tuesday and Wednesday two-hour shows, in which the top girls and … Read the full story by Ed Martin
- Commentary
Appointment binge-watching? That would seem to be a contradiction in terms, but it absolutely describes what happened last weekend, when Netflix unleashed all 13 episodes of Season Two of "House … Read the full story by Barbara Lippert
- Commentary
I belong to a gym, and for the most part, I love it. But you know what annoys me? In spite of the fact that I use a maximum of … Read the full story by Joe Marchese
- News
Responding to the continuing decline in soda sales in North America and slowing growth in markets such as Brazil and China overseas, Coca-Cola will be counting on the real thing … Read the full story by Thom Forbes
NewsFacebook's $20 million sponsored stories settlement is drawing opposition from a coalition of advocacy groups, pediatricians and other watchdogs, who say the settlement won't adequately protect the privacy of Facebook's … Read the full story by Wendy Davis
NewsAs part of their sponsorship package, some athletes are contracted to post tweets on behalf of advertisers. Major brands are showing up often as non-sequitur hashtags in Olympian posts. Read the full story by Steve Smith
NewsEight nights of the Sochi Winter Olympics still have NBC trailing the Vancouver Games of 2012 -- but analysts point to the expected higher-rated figure skating events to come in … Read the full story by Wayne Friedman
- Commentary
In a year of great Sunday night television programming, the evening of Feb. 9, 2014 stands out for the diversity and volume of its must-see offerings. In addition to the … Read the full story by Gary Holmes
- Commentary
Remember Comcast Must Die? It was a blog jihad I mounted back in 2007 not to kill the cable provider, but to shame it into some modicum of customer-service responsibility. … Read the full story by Bob Garfield
- Commentary
How happy will advertisers be after the Comcast-Time Warner merger is complete? Are better advertising-related products coming down the road? We can't be sure. Read the full story by Wayne Friedman
NewsMagna Global, part of IPG Mediabrands, committed $100 million of its managed client advertising dollars to the Mountain View, Calif. company in a one-year upfront deal, as more marketing brands … Read the full story by Laurie Sullivan
NewsCox Media, the ad sales division of one of the largest operators of broadcast and cable TV outlets in the U.S., Cox Communications, has agreed to begin selling its linear … Read the full story by Tyler Loechner
- News
Opera Software in 2012 introduced a service called Web Pass for mobile operators allowing customers to purchase short-term data access. Users without a data plan are able to buy "passes" … Read the full story by Mark Walsh
