Jonathan Gibs, the top online media researcher and analyst at Nielsen, has joined NBCUniversal in the new position of senior vice president of digital research for NBCUniversal's Entertainment & Digital Networks and Integrated Media division.

Building on its now annual November push for all things green, NBCUniversal's "Green is Universal" effort announced a 'Green Square' app, a green-themed, location-based app for iPhone and iPod touch.  The Green Square App,  powered by Foursquare technology, will be available in  10 markets, accessed to user-generated tips upon check-in, as well as eco-friendly tips from NBCUniversal talent. 

Android claimed more than half (52%) of the global smartphone market in the third quarter, more than doubling its share from a year ago, according to Gartner data released Tuesday. Conversely, Symbian continued to lose ground, slipping from a market-leading 36% share a year ago to 16.6% in the most recent quarter. Rounding out the top five smartphone platforms were Apple’s iOS (15%), Rearch in Motion’s BlackBerry (11%) and Samsung’s Bada (2.2%). Total smartphone sales to end users reached 115 million units in the third quarter of 2011, up 42% from the year-earlier period, but down 7% from the …

An Australian scientist claims to have cracked the code of viral video success, and he attributes his breakthrough to the science of biological evolution.

Amsterdam-based LBi International N.V. has acquired New York-based social media and marketing shop Mr Youth in a deal valued at between $40 million and $50 million.

Twitter today seemed to help writer Salman Rushdie restore his Facebook identity, two days after his page was taken down by the company in an overzealous attempt at enforcing the real-name policy

GroupM's Saint-Jacques Vallee MEC in Montreal, Canada, is changing its name to MEC Montreal. The agency will be led by Sylvie La Salle, Vice-President, General Manager, whom will work closely with Michele Pauchuk, president of MEC Canada.

Mobile phone giant Sony Ericsson has awarded Omnicom Group's PHD its global planning and buying assignment after a review, per sources. The company spends an estimated $200 million on ads worldwide. The incumbent was WPP's MEC, which had the account for a decade. Just last month, Sony and Ericsson decided to end the phone venture with Sony agreeing to buy out its Swedish telecom partner. That didn't bode well for MEC, as Omnicom has a number of pieces of Sony business around the globe.

Global ad research aggregator and publisher WARC this morning said it cut its advertising growth forecast for nine of the 12 advertising markets it tracks in its "International Ad Forecast" report. "Only Russia, Canada and Japan have escaped downward revisions for 2011 and 2012," the research organization said.

After eight Years as one of the leading economic thinkers on Madison Avenue, Brian Wieser is jumping back to another block, Wall Street. Wieser, who joined targeted TV advertising network Simulmedia as CMO in February after eight years as a top Madison Avenue economic forecaster at Interpublic, is returning to his roots as a Wall Street equity analyst.