Fresh off finalizing its acquisition by Google, AdMob has released a new set of advertising tools for developers on the iPad. AdMob's new software developer kit for iPad applications supports a pair of display formats: one featuring text and the other, images. Amazon is among initial advertisers using the new ads to promote its Kindle for iPad app. In a blog post, AdMob also showcased mock-ups of interactive ads built with HTML5 to highlight the potential for iPad ads. "We consider today's launch of text & tile and image ads for iPad native apps to just be the …

Herb Scannell, CEO of Next New Networks and former president of Viacom’s Nickelodeon Networks, has jumped back into cable TV, joining BBC Worldwide America as president.

GroupM's MEC unit has named four new managing partners: Cheryl Di Martino, Mason Franklin, Michelle Gugliemelli and Adam Shlacther.

Helena Snowdon has been named marketing director, a new position, GroupM's Maxus Worldwide unit. Snowdon will oversee all Maxus branding, marketing and communications efforts, both internally and externally.Most recently she was global head of marketing and communications for Omnicom's PHD unit in London.

Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs's comment during opening remarks at the All Things Digital conference "We have no plans to go into the search business. We don't care about it--other people do it well." should provide a sigh of relief to investors. That's what Broadpoint AmTech Analyst Ben Schachter told investors in a research note published Wednesday. It appears to Schachter that Jobs ruled out Apple heading directly into search. He also seemed to indicate Apple will not remove Google services from the iPhone or other Apple products anytime soon. He did acknowledge that the Google/Apple relationship has …

Lexus is breaking a new ad campaign on Wednesday that features the company's Lexus LFA supercar. The spot borrows the longtime "Pursuit of Perfection" theme of champagne glasses. But in this case the rev of the LFA's engine shatters the glass. The spot will air mostly on cable and during Major League Baseball All-Star game and the USGA U.S. Open Championship, per a company spokesperson.

As its core customers emerge from the recession, business is good again at Staples, allowing the company to focus on its growth plans. "Five years from now, we'll be more focused on our delivery business, with a higher mix of technology, and sell more private label products," Ron Sargent, Staples' chairman/CEO, told investors attending the 26th Sanford Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference, which was webcast. "There will be more services in our mix, because there is not a lot of inventory and the margins are great. And we're going to grow internationally. We're on a glide path to do all that."

McDonald's is running a new ad on French TV that features a gay teen and his father, who is unaware of his son's orientation, according to the New York Daily News. The father jokes about his son's good looks, saying he could get any girl he wanted. Tagline: "Come as you are." Part of a series that has included flirtatious senior citizens on laptops and a young girl who turns her mother's scolding against her, the paper reports.

beverages, packaging design

Something's afoot with ViviaKi chief David  Kenny,  and it appears he may be on the way out. In a cryptic statement, Publics just announced that Kenny has resigned from all his functions related to its management board, and that Co-Managing Partner Jack Klues has been named the sole CEO of VivaKi. "It is with regret that the Supervisory Board has accepted David Kenny's resignation from all his functions and from the Management Board (Directoire)," Publicis said in its statement, adding, "The possible future evolutions for David Kenny would have implied relocating to Paris, which was not possible for family …