The Tribune Company, publisher of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, has joined the Mobile Marketing Association as a premium member, the trade group's top membership tier. The program involves a long-term commitment and at least a six-figure investment by participating companies to help promote the mobile marketing industry. In return, they get prominent sponsorships opportunities at MMA events. Other premium members since the initiative was started in November 2009 include Alcatel-Lucent, Microsoft Advertising and The Coca-Cola Company. In connection with the move, Andy Vogel, Los Angeles Times vice president of emerging media, will represent the Tribune Company on …

Aircell, the parent company of in-flight wi-fi service Gogo, just raised another $35 million in financing. “That's more than $500 million in total financing raised so far, to bring you Internet access while you're in the air,” reports The San Francisco Chronicle. Aircell CEO Michael Small said the company has recently made major financial improvements, and is on the "path to profitability." Small also told SFGate.com that the company's growth curve is accelerating thanks to more airlines installing wi-fi on more of their planes. During a recent Google-sponsored promotion, Small said that Gogo did 3 million wi-fi sessions over …

Omnicom's Diversified Agency Services division has acquired online community builder Communispace. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. "Reports that Communispace was looking for a buyer first surfaced in mid-December, and Omnicom was named as a potential suitor alongside various venture capitalists, tech firms and marketing agency holding companies," reports Research magazine. Dismissed at the time, Communispace was reportedly being valued at $100 million. Communispace head Diane Hessan is expected to stay on, and continue to serve as president and chief executive officer. The deal follows Omnicom's Diversified Agency Services' purchase of predictive modeling and advanced analytics firm …

Daily deal leader Groupon made its Super Bowl debut last night, and -- as is often the case with such spots -- reactions were mixed. The celebrity-infused quasi-controversial ads spoofed charitable causes like declining whale populations and deforestation -- suggesting that, instead of saving the whales or saving the rain forest, we should all “Save The Money.” Says Techcrunch: “Well, Groupon certainly isn’t afraid of rustling a few feathers … They’re a little weird, and likely to spark waves of debate and plenty of extra publicity.” So as not to appear too cruel, Groupon’s Save The Money site is …

Despite its marketing might and vast editorial and technological recourses, The Daily is destined to leave many users wanting. Why? Because News Corp.'s new iPad-ready newspaper is "buggy," according to paidContent. As a result, "a lot of that [marketing money] may go to waste and a 'please try again' campaign should be in the works." Right off the bat, paidContent's Staci Kramer ran into problems downloading and installing The Daily at launch. Then, "Getting the second issue open in about 30 seconds didn't seem too bad but it pushed the patience meter," while "Reopening the app later in the …

Facebook continues to gain ground on Yahoo, with less than 3 million unique visitors separating the two sites as of December, according to the latest data from Web measurement service Compete. Yahoo had about 137 million visitors at the end of 2010 compared to 134 million for Facebook, which saw 14% growth this year. Both trailed top-trafficked site Google, which drew a monthly audience of 150 million. Among other notable moves, Bing.com leapfrogged Wikipedia.org to gain the sixth spot, and more than doubled its traffic in 2010--by far the largest yearly growth among the top 50 sites. Apple.com, which …

ZenithOptimedia has named Lisa Torres has been named president of its Multicultural Unit. Torres, who joins from executive vice president-group account director at MPG's diversity unit, reports to Dave Ehlers, executive vice president-managing director at ZenithOptimedia.

Clear Channel Radio has named Wendy Goldberg executive vice president-marketing and communications. She will report to CCR President and CEO John Hogan. She joins CCR from Hearst Corp., where she was vice president-business development and strategy for Hearst Entertainment & Syndication.

Smartphone shipments worldwide increased 87% in the fourth quarter to 100.9 million from a year ago, fueled by surging Android phone and iPhone sales. For 2010, total shipments rose 74.4% to 302.6 million, according to the latest data from technology research firm IDC. Both Samsung and HTC saw triple-digit growth in the fourth quarter, with unit sales up 439% and 258%, respectively, by following a strategy of selling multiple Android devices. Samsung enjoyed the biggest gain in market share among the top five smartphone vendors in 2010, nearly tripling its share from 3.3% to 9.6%. Read more here.

When it comes to commercials, a wee Darth Vader seems to be walking away with the Super Bowl trophy, at least according to early buzz. "Right now, the Darth Vader spot is leading the voting on AdBowl," Steve McKee, president of McKee Wallwork Cleveland in Albuquerque, and founder of the AdBowl, tells Marketing Daily . "It's a rare example of a commercial that is charming and thoughtful--it's a really human spot, and people are responding to that." VW's Black Betty spot, featuring a revved-up insect, is also coming on strong. And Chrysler, too, with its long Eminem spot …