Google said Friday it has rebranded the Content Network to expand offerings under one umbrella. The Google Display Network, formally Google Content Network, will comprise all the sites, except for search, where brands can buy ads through Google, including YouTube, properties like Google Finance, Gmail, Google Maps, Blogger, and more. It umbrella also includes the AdSense and DoubleClick Ad Exchange partner sites that allow text and/or display ads. Ads will run across the Google Display Network similar to the way they have in the past within the Content Network. Bids are placed through AdWords, or on YouTube and Google …

The Organic Consumers Association, an environmental watchdog group, says Whole Foods Market is taking action against greenwashing in its cosmetics aisle, and that its new standards will compel such brands as Avalon Organics, Nature's Gate and Giovanni to either change their labels or their formulations. "While the USDA has said that it will address the problem of mislabeled organic personal care products, we're pleased Whole Foods has gone ahead and taken this action now," Ronnie Cummins, director of the Finland, Minn.-based group tells Marketing Daily. "You can't let people use the word organic as marketing ploy—we would never let …

It's crunch time at Kettle Brand Potato Chips, which is urging fans to "Crunch Proud" and join its new virtual "Loud Food Club" in a new summer campaign.

World's Best Cat Litter is expanding its "Buy The Best. Or Smell The Rest" direct response TV campaign to include TV, print and online ads. Consumers have been downloading free trial coupons for the all-natural, whole-kernel corn cat litter in record numbers, says Paul Zobel, director of sales and marketing for World's Best Cat Litter, produced by Muscatine, Iowa-based GPC Pet Products. "We aim to reach cat owners using a combination of media including direct response TV, online banner ads, and magazine and newspaper advertising," Zobel says.  "We were thrilled to see the TV viewers' responsiveness and, due …

The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 today to move forward with a plan to reclassify broadband access as a Title II telecommunications service. The move is seen as the first step towards enacting neutrality regulations. Chairman Julius Genachowski proposed the initiative last month, shortly after a federal appellate court ruled that the FCC currently has no authority to enforce neutrality principles because broadband is classified as an information service. The two Republican commissioners voted against Genachowski's proposal.

More data confirming my suspicion that about one-third of social media users are actively making recommendations (about brands, life, and everything) while the other two-thirds form a mostly passive audience for these recommendations. The latest findings come courtesy of Joshua Grossnickle, VP, Consumer Insights and Analytics, BabyCenter, who presented the site's analysis and breakdown of women who use social media. Grossnickle breaks the 33% of influencers down into three subsets -- lifecasters, field experts, and pros -- of roughly equal size. Among many other characteristics outlined by Grossnickle, lifecasters are less serious about the whole thing, not necessarily out there …

With most of Pepsi's major social media efforts like Project Refresh and the crowd-sourcing of flavors for Mountain Dew, Bough said the company now wants to put dedicated resources around smaller portfolio brands like Lipton and Brisk to launch their own social marketing initiatives. He suggested the sub-brands offer the opportunity to more experimental things than the "crown jewels" which carry higher business expectations. Then why hasn't Pepsi used the smaller product lines as a test bed for social marketing efforts? In any case, Bough says these brands want to "rock and roll with us." They'll have to hope the …

Note to CPG management: Stay away from the idea people. Large consumer product goods companies with less senior management involvement in the idea-generation stage of the new product development process generate 80% more new-product revenue than those with heavy senior management involvement, according to a new study from The Nielsen Company.

AOL Thursday acknowledged it has sold Bebo to Criterion Capital Partners. Rumors of the sale swirled Wednesday, especially after a Wall Street Journal reporter posted news of the sale to Twitter (then quickly removed the errant post). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, though there has been no end to speculation about a fire sale price for AOL's beleaguered social network. After AOL announced it's intention to sell Bebo, some pundits speculated that it would be better off just shutting the service down. Whether the sale confirms or refutes these terms remains open for debate. Bebo …

The Interactive Advertising Bureau and 46 small publishers visited Washington this week to lobby against new online advertising regulations. The event, the IAB's second annual "Long Tail Alliance Washington Fly-in," is part of the organization's ongoing effort to stave off new privacy laws. Rep. Rick Boucher recently floated a draft of a bill that would require ad networks that track people online to obtain their consent. The proposal specifically calls for opt-in consent unless companies notify consumers via an icon and also allow people to view and edit their profiles. The IAB recently told lawmakers that …