In an effort to boost its display ad business, eBay has turned to Triad Retail Media to sell and manage all on-site display advertising on its main site and eBay Motors. Under the agreement, Triad is to deliver more customized, relevant advertising on eBay that better showcase listings and improves the overall experience for buyers and sellers. Banner advertising will be more personalized, with category-specific content embedded directly into the ad so customers can view content without clicking off the site. eBay will also feature new cross-category "content centers"--sponsored landing pages to highlight seasonally relevant …

BFGoodrich Tires and the Flying Pomegranate, snowboarder Shaun White, have inked amulti-year partnership that will, per a release, "chronicle the 10-time Winter X Games gold medalist as he upgrades his performance driving abilities from the best in the business." White is prepping for his ninth appearance at the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colo. Jan 27-30.

Kohl's is rolling out its spring marketing campaign for Candie's, but instead of Britney Spears, it features High School Musical cutie Vanessa Hudgens. The actress will make her debut for the brand in March issues of such magazines as Seventeen, Teen Vogue and Cosmopolitan, as well as Kohl's outdoor billboards, in-store graphics, online and direct mail. But until then, look for her and Brit to tweet up a storm to promote the brand in the baton hand-off. "The campaign creative was inspired by Twitter with Vanessa offering fans behind the scenes-like photos and sound bites about each shot," Julie …

Young Super Bowl watchers will stay actively connected during the big game. Firstly, nearly two-thirds of 18-34 year olds planning to watch Super Bowl XLV have smartphones, according to a new survey this week by Lightspeed Research. Of those with smartphones, 59% will send emails or SMS messages about the game, 18% will be check out ads online, and the same proportion will visit advertiser Web sites. Almost a third (32%) will be posting comments about the game on a social network, with women more likely …

Mobile ad firm Smaato has secured $7 million in a new round of venture funding led by Singapore-based investment firm EBDI and including prior investors such as Aeris Capital. The company will use the financing to fuel its international expansion, especially to extend its presence in Asia beyond Singapore. Smaato is headquartered in Redwood Shores, Calif. The company says that more than 11,000 publishers worldwide have signed up for its mobile ad optimization platform and that its system is handling close to 20 billion ad requests a month. Read more here.

Yahoo Tuesday reported slightly better than expected fourth-quarter results, posting earnings per share of 24 cents, on net revenue of $1.2 billion. Wall street analysts had forecast net revenue of $1.19 and profit of 22 cents a share. Gross revenue of $1.5 was in line with analyst estimates. The embattled Web portal said display ad revenue was up 17% from a year ago on continued strong marketer spending. On the search side, Yahoo highlighted completing the transition of North American paid search to Microsoft on schedule during the quarter. "We just completed a very encouraging quarter and year …

A new survey from the National Retail Federation predicts that come Feb. 6, Super Bowl partiers will spend $10.1 billion, with 171 million planning on watching the game--the most in the survey's history. Of those, 34.9 million--or 15% of viewers-- plan to host their own party, an increase from last year's 31.6 million. And 61.2 million, or 26.3%, plan to attend a game party, up from 58.8 million last year. While the survey was fielded before the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers had earned their ticket to Dallas, it shows Americans are willing to spend more on the …

The new front-of-pack labeling system unveiled yesterday by the Grocery Manufacturers Association and Food Marketing Institute, "Nutrition Keys," quickly drew criticism from consumer nutrition watchdogs and legislators.  Critics characterized the system as a self-serving attempt by the industry to pre-empt or influence a widely expected introduction by the FDA of a voluntary but agency-regulated labeling system in the months to come. Some maintain that Nutrition Keys' inclusion of the ability to highlight beneficial nutrients--rather than highlight only calories, fats and sodium as recommended by the Institute of Medicine--will confuse and even mislead consumers, by diverting focus from the nutrients that most contribute …

Lowell McAdam, Verizon's chief operating officer, confirmed today that the carrier will offer a $30 unlimited data plan with the iPhone 4. Verizon is hoping the unlimited plan will provide a marketing advantage over AT&T, which last year switched to tiered pricing for data plans. Separately, Verizon said Tuesday it added 872,000 customers in the fourth quarter, down from 1.1 million a year ago, but still more than analysts expected. The company's revenue fell 2.6% in the quarter due to its shrinking wireline. business. Read more here.

Board meetings are about to get more interesting at JC Penney. The Plano, Tex.-based retailer says it has agreed to appoint activist investor William Ackman and Steven Roth, chairman of Vornado Realty Trust, to its board. It also says it will close five underperforming stores, shut two call centers, and finally lower the curtain on its catalog business. Ackman, whose Pershing Square is now Penney's largest shareholder, is known for taking large stakes in underperforming retailers, which have included McDonald's, Target and Borders, and pressuring them to improve results. In press interviews, he has said that while Penney is …