Warner Bros. Digital Distribution (WBDD) said it will begin selling or renting select movies through Warner Bros. Entertainment’s Facebook movie pages. Consumers can use Facebook Credits to buy or rent a title without leaving Facebook. Beginning Tuesday in the United States, fans who "Liked” Christopher Nolan’s film "The Dark Knight" will have an option to rent the title through its official Facebook Page Clicking on the “rent” icon to apply Facebook Credits gets them a view within seconds. Warner Bros. will charge 30 Facebook Credits or $3 to rent. Additional titles will become available for rental and purchase …

Just when you thought there couldn't possibly be another mobile app storefront, Opera Software has added its own to the fray. The Web browser maker has partnered with app marketplace Appia to launch the Opera Mobile Store catering to the more than 100 million people who use an Opera browser on their mobile phones. The new store promises to offer 140,000 free and paid apps for virtually every type of device and mobile platform including Symbian, BlackBerry and Android. Even before its formal opening, Opera says its branded app store in February  attracted 15 million users and generated 700,000 …

Austin, Tx -- In media and marketing, you can't always be "on" -- as is online. Many times real results happen in the "off" position. During the American Association of Advertising Agencies Transformation 2011 conference, one of the first day's messages -- this during the workshops for small and mid-size agencies -- was in connecting online emphasis with off-line platforms. In a meeting moderated by Cyriac Roeding, co-founder/CEO of shopkick, one theme revealed is that monetizing online requires "encouraging, facilitating, and rewarding consumption offline". All this mean that new technology is coupled by old economics. Roeding's shopkick …

Austin, Tx. -- Twang! A new audio theme for Yahoo! Just when you think companies like Yahoo! have explored all sorts of digital entertainment businesses -- you realize there could be a lot more to do with the analog side of stuff. Like Guitars. Keeping with the music-loving town that is Austin, Tx. -- and the 4A's Transformation 2011 here -- the big Internet company decided to offer a special Yahoo! guitar, as a promotion during the event. The instrument is made by Rockford, Ill. guitar-maker, James Worland. Yahoo!'s familiar "Y!" logo appears on the tuning neck …

Avon says it is expanding its marketing efforts to stop global violence against women, and is offering a $10 Women's Empowerment Bracelet to raise funds for its mission. As in past years, the campaign will be spearheaded by actress Reese Witherspoon, the cosmetic company's celebrity ambassador, and kick off on March 8th, the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day. So far, the company says its International Women's Day Avon Empowerment products and programs have raised more than $30 million to end violence against women. That includes sales of the first bracelet, launched back in 2008. Avon, which has …

Kik Interactive, the company behind the cross-platform mobile messaging application Kik Messenger, has closed an $8 million first-round funding from RRE Ventures, Spark Capital, and Union Square Ventures. In connection with the financing, Fred Wilson of Union Square and Adam Ludwin of RRE are joining the company's board. The Waterloo, Ontario-based company, which has 3 million users, says the new capital positions it  for its next phase of growth, which includes the launch of new group messaging and picture sharing features. Read more here.

Internet calling service Skype is rolling out advertising for the first time this week that will appear in the “Home” tab of Skype for Windows. The tab provides a sponsored masthead unit expandable to 650 x 340 for ads that can include audio and video as well as a click-to-call button. It allows people to share the ad via Facebook and Twitter or close it. Among the initial brands advertising on Skype are Groupon, Nokia, Universal Pictures and Visa. The company has also partnered with multi-chat service provide Meebo in the U.S., Ad2One in the U.K., and Ströer Interactive …

Google over the weekend announced additional steps to deal with the malware attack last week that led the company to remove more than 50 apps from its Android Market and suspend related developer accounts. Google said it was now also remotely disable the infected apps that have been downloaded by estimated tens of thousands of smartphone users. Secondly, it's pushing an update to the Android Market for all affected devices that "undoes" the Trojan apps to prevent any further user data from being compromised. Thirdly, Google said affected users would receive notifications via their devices as soon as …

Interpublic's Reprise Media has tapped Bloomberg's John Anagnost as president-U.S. He reports to Worldwide CEO Bant Breen. Anagnost was head of audience marketing at Bloomberg.com and Businessweek.com, and prior to that was on the agency side as global director of search marketing services at WPP's Neo@Ogilvy unit.

Deal-a-day leader Groupon has been hit with a potential class action lawsuit, which claim that it issues coupons with illegal expiration dates. As the Chicago Sun-Times reports, an unhappy customer claims he purchased a gift certificate through Groupon with an illegally deceptive expiration date, according to a suit filed in U.S. District Court. "Groupon and the retail partners state the gift certificates expire within months," reports SunTimes.com. "The suit claims the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act prohibits the sale of gift certificates with expiration dates of less than five years." Whether the lawsuit could threaten Groupon's business …