Trip Chowdry, managing director at Global Equities Research, reduced estimates for Yahoo stock during the next 12 to 18 months from $14 to $12 late Wednesday based on several factors. Yahoo is losing ad spend on both search and display ads, he wrote in a research note, explain that outsourcing search to Microsoft was a major strategic mistake the company will find it "nearly impossible" to recover from. He explains splitting the company is not a solution, and believes it should "out innovate the market" with a strategic mindset.

Video marketing company TubeMogul has entered into a partnership with Accuen, Omnicom Media Group's year-old digital trading desk based in Chicago. Accuen, which represents three of the top 10 global advertising brands, is using TubeMogul's demand-side platform to buy online video advertising in real-time and at scale. The agreement will initially cover the U.S., Australia and the U.K., with more markets to follow. TubeMogul earlier this relaunched its PlayTime video ad solution as a DSP allowing real-time bidding on over 5 billion auctions per day across various formats, including pre-roll, in-banner, mobile and social media units. Most recently, …

Online ad firm Flite, formerly Widgetbox, has launched a new service called FliteHub, an open platform where developers can register app-like components for marketers to use in ad units. Launch partners providing ad-related tools include ePrize, MovieConnect, Mashery, Aditive, ChatID, and Mass Relevance. MovieConnect, for instance, will offer a plug-in for agencies and rich media vendors to build movie showtime and ticket purchasing features into ads. ePrize will supply software that makes it easier for brands to build promotions into ads. More partners are in the pipeline, according to Flite. Advertisers log into FliteHub to select ad …

Online ad firm Flite, formerly Widgetbox, has launched a new service called FliteHub, an open platform where developers can register app-like components for marketers to use in ad units. Launch partners providing ad-related tools include ePrize, MovieConnect, Mashery, Aditive, ChatID, and Mass Relevance. MovieConnect, for instance, will offer a plug-in for agencies and rich media vendors to build movie showtime and ticket purchasing features into ads. ePrize will supply software that makes it easier for brands to build promotions into ads. More partners are in the pipeline, according to Flite. Advertisers log into FliteHub to select ad …

Online ad firm Flite, formerly Widgetbox, has launched a new service called FliteHub, an open platform where developers can register app-like components for marketers to use in ad units. Launch partners providing ad-related tools include ePrize, MovieConnect, Mashery, Aditive, ChatID, and Mass Relevance. MovieConnect, for instance, will offer a plug-in for agencies and rich media vendors to build movie showtime and ticket purchasing features into ads. ePrize will supply software that makes it easier for brands to build promotions into ads. More partners are in the pipeline, according to Flite. Advertisers log into FliteHub to select ad …

Americans aren't just more adept at using the Internet for holiday shopping every year, they're more nimble at clicking their way through to bigger discounts. Online visits to the Retail 500 are up 17.5% so far this year, reports Experian, and it is predicting that this holiday, that means people will be looking harder (and earlier) for big discounts. "Consumers are definitely on the hunt for the deal," says Bill Tancer, head of global research for Experian Marketing Services, in its 2011 holiday webinar "Three to four years ago, for example, we wouldn't see an increase in Black Friday …

Macy's Inc. on Wednesday said its Macy's and Bloomingdale's stores will adopt radio frequency identification (RFID) technology on an accelerated timeline to manage item-level merchandise inventories. The company expects by Q3 2012 to begin using RFID in all stores to count items regularly stocked and automatically resupplied as they get sold to customers. This represents about 30% of the company's sales. It's not clear if the RFID technology will tie into advertising or search engine marketing efforts. RFID, a wireless communications technology related to near field communciation (NFC), is often used to improve manufacturing supply chains. Wal-Mart Stores began …

Amazon.com officially entered the tablet race Wednesday with the long-awaited launch of its answer to Apple's dominant iPad—the Kindle Fire. At a packed press event in New York, Amazon unveiled a tablet with the features reported in recent days including a 7-inch touchscreen with access to the retail giant's app store, streaming video, music, books and other content. It also packs a new browser optimized for the device called Amazon Silk. The Kindle Fire is priced at $199 and will ship Nov. 15. In addition, Amazon rolled out a trio of new Kindle e-readers, including a pair of new …

Lee Doyle has resigned as CEO of North America for WPP's MEC, the agency has confirmed. In a statement, the agency said, "After 12 years with the agency, [Doyle] has decided to take a new direction in his career within GroupM and WPP. His new role will be announced in due course." Charles Courtier, CEO Global for MEC, will take management responsibility for MEC North American operations until the new CEO is on-board. He's used to the double dutry, having served in both roles before Doyle was promoted to NA CEO in 2007. He will be supported by …

Lee Doyle has stepped down as CEO of North America for MEC. After 12 years with the agency, MEC said Doyle has decided to "take a new direction in his career within GroupM and WPP. His new role will be announced in due course." Charles Courtier, CEO Global for MEC, will take management responsibility for MEC North American operations until a new CEO is named.