Foursquare is considering a sale to Yahoo, according TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington -- a move he insists is not in the best interests of the hot location-based social network. In recent days, “Yahoo and maybe others expressed interest in the company, and are reportedly offering way above [its current valuation of] $80 million,â€� Arrington notes. Such a deal, he maintains, would be bad for both parties. “What the heck is Yahoo going to do with Foursquare that will somehow turn around their business? Absolutely nothing, that’s what. M&A for PR purposes is not what savvy executive teams do. Whatever tech …

Following a week of rumors, social buying startup Groupon has secured $135 million from Digital Sky Technologies, along with Battery Ventures. The startup, which closed its Accel-led second round of funding late last year to the tune of $30 million, is now profitable and has 270 employees -- the majority of whom are sales associates responsible for reaching deals with local service providers from yoga studios to sushi restaurants. According to Boom Town, the funding will be used “to speed far ahead of numerous rivals,â€� although it will also likely inspire more entrepreneurs to join the social buying marketplace. …

Steve Keyes, longtime media relations pro at Herndon, VA-based Volkswagen of America, Inc. will be retiring from the company effective May 1, per VW. Keyes has been at the company for 31 years. The company says he will continue as a consultant to the public relations team, with responsibilities for strategic planning for vehicle drives and the media-related aspects of auto shows. Keyes, who became director of press and public Relations for the Audi and Volkswagen brands in the U.S. and Canada in 1997, started at Volkswagen as the district sales manager responsible for Chicago metro.

Automotive was the top-gaining site category in March, increasing 23% to more than 30 million visitors as potential buyers researched car purchases online, according to a new comScore report on top-growing Web properties. General Motors led the segment with 7.6 million visitors, up 32% during the month, followed by Hyundai (5.4 million), Toyota (5.1 million), Ford Motor Company, (5 million), and Honda (3.6 million.) One has to wonder if Toyota’s site traffic has actually benefited from the recall debacle. Online ad spending in the auto category dipped slightly last year from $2.8 billion to $2.5 billion, going from …

Ford Motor Company says it now has the highest customer satisfaction with vehicle quality among all major automakers. The Dearborn, Mich. automaker says 84% of customers who purchased 2010 model-year Ford, Lincoln and Mercury cars and trucks are satisfied with the quality of their vehicle, a 4 percentage point improvement since the fourth quarter of 2009. The data comes from a Global Quality Research System (GQRS) study for Ford by Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based RDA Group. The automaker says the data means that customer satisfaction is higher for Ford than for all other full-line automotive manufacturers, including Asian and European …

Mercedes-Benz says Hollywood stars dig its BlueTec and hybrid vehicles. The Montvale, NJ-based Mercedes-Benz USA says Robert Downey Jr., Gerard Butler and Miley Cyrus are among those driving the 2010 S400 Hybrid luxury sedan. The company says Sarah Jessica Parker, Liv Tyler, Rosario Dawson, Christina Applegate, Molly Sims, Giles Marini, Felicity Huffman among others also drive Mercedes hybrids or BlueTecs. The company says purchase of one of these vehicles does not include a contract with a famous Hollywood agent, a heated pool overlooking Topanga Canyon, or an invite to Downey, Jr.’s Academy Awards after-party.

Lisa Fischer, a sales veteran at Discovery who has helped get the sales group for the 2011 Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) off the ground, is moving over to Ion. She joins as senior vice president of network sales. Fischer had been at Discovery for more than 10 years, recently working on the transition of Discovery Health Channel to OWN. She has also worked with networks Animal Planet and Travel Channel. In prime time, the Ion network has just launched an Emeril Lagesse original show, while offering off-net dramas such as "Criminal Minds" and "NCIS."

CRM agency Merkle said it is launching a service to facilitate delivery of targeted emails across mobile devices, whether iPhone, Palm Pre, Droid or another. Challenges have included emails appearing on screens differently from device to device. Tim Judson, vice president, email solutions at Merkle stated “we found that mobile email users spend approximately 18% of their permission email time on a mobile phone, indicating the importance of sending email that renders correctly across multiple devices.�

Chris Berman is back, back, back. For the uninitiated, that's his home-run call. And the ESPN sportscaster since 1979 has signed an extension, though details were not disclosed. He'll continue to host a slew of NFL shows, and still contribute to "SportsCenter," which he has for more than 30 years, going back to when anchors wore mustard-colored jackets.

Carlo Catajan, Yahoo Mail product manager, says the company ended its relationship with Goodmail Systems in February. Yahoo felt its control of its infrastructure gives it more control and visibility of what users want and it can offer the same functionality in-house. Dan Lewis of Microsoft's Hotmail said it is still in discussions with Goodmail about how to use it in some areas. Goodmail has a CertifiedEmail product, among other platforms.