Mobile barcode scanning was up 800% in the first quarter, according to new data from barcode technology company Scanbuy. Scanning surged 16-fold during the holiday season last year after increasing 700% for the first three quarters of 2010. For the first time since the second quarter of last year, scanning of 2D codes surpassed that of traditional UPC codes. Retail and media companies generated some of the most popular 2D campaigns in the quarter. Among mobile operating systems, Android continued to generate the most scans, while the iPhone accounted for the most scans from a single device. "The …

April 22 is Earth Day, so it's only appropriate someone weigh in on how much Americans are shopping with their conscience these days. A new poll from NBC Universal's four-year-old initiative "Green is Universal" suggests consumers are a lot more willing to separate themselves from their cash in exchange for a smaller footprint, carbon or otherwise. The poll says 78% of consumers think buying green is a way to shop with their values and ethics, which is a 9 point increase versus the inaugural poll two years ago. The new study, "Green in the Economy II" shows brand loyalty …

Nissan has signed a deal with the Puerto-Rican government around ways to foster the introduction, use and expansion of electric vehicles in Puerto Rico. For Nissan, that means the Leaf electric car. The program involves a study group of Puertorican Government officials and Nissan representatives toward a pilot program for the use of the Leaf and incentives for consumers who buy the car. "Today, we take one more step toward the Green Puerto Rico initiative by signing the agreement aimed at evaluating several ways to foster the use of electric vehicles in Puerto Rico. This agreement allow us …

Popular software blog Download Squad became the latest casualty in AOL's post-HuffPo content "consolidation," ZDNet reports. In an email issued late Monday, Download Squad's staff was effectively told to gather their personal belongings. "From that moment, no further blog posts were made on Download Squad," ZDNet writes. Editor Sebastian Anthony then tweeted, "In a world where software is moving towards ubiquity, AOL-HuffPo has seen fit to shut down the best software blog on the Web. Insane." Regarding layoffs, AOL head Tim Armstrong assured last month: "There will be job changes ... There's no way around it, but we'll do …

How is NYTimes.com fairing since the debut of its paywall? According to Experian Hitwise, visits to the site were off between 5-to-15% during the 12 days after the paywall’s launch. As paidContent notes, visits were actually down only slightly on Friday and actually up on Saturday, “possibly because of interest in the budget showdown.” Traffic depreciated most severely – 15% -- on the last day of March, when the greatest number of visitors to the site would have reached their monthly article limit, according to Experian Hitwise. Under the New York Times’ new paywall plan, visitors can read 20 …

Video asset management software provider KIT Digital this week announced the acquisition of Ioko, a software and technology services provider for multi-screen video delivery. KIT has agreed to pay $91.4 million in cash and stock. As TechCrunch explains, Ioko provides an end-to-end managed cloud-based platform for multi-screen video delivery over connected IP devices to telecommunications cable, media and entertainment companies around the world, with a particular focus on North American, Northern European and Australasian markets. Ioko currently generates approximately $54 million in annual revenues related to IP video asset management, through a combination of recurring managed service fees, software …

Who says advertising has no place in the future of paid content? Amazon just unveiled a $114 Kindle, which requires owners to view ads in exchange for the new low price. The Kindle With Special Offers, so-called, costs $25 less than the current lowest-priced model, according to Amazon. "Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos is counting on the Kindle, unveiled in 2007 for $399, to capitalize on digital-book demand," writes Bloomberg. "With the new approach, he gains a bigger price advantage over rivals and opens an additional source of ad revenue." General Motors' Buick, Procter & Gamble's Olay skin products …

The recession may be over, but the majority of consumers--52%--say it doesn't feel that way, according to Deloitte's latest consumer survey. And they're worried about rough seas ahead, too, with 71% anticipating that higher gas prices will affect their ability to spend in the coming months. "This is a very deliberate, calculating consumer," Ellen Basilico, a partner in Deloitte's retail practice, tells Marketing Daily. "And they are still focused on building their balance sheet. For example, of those getting a tax refund, 55% say they plan to pay down debt, and 46% intend to pay bills. As they're getting …

A month after re-assuring investors that it would return to its basic "Everyday low prices" positioning, Walmart is making good on its promise. The new marketing campaign, which includes humorous national TV spots, tailored local marketing and an aggressive "Match it" policy, is designed to win back the shoppers it's lost in recent months. It's also putting some 8,500 items back on stores shelves, an 11% increase, in an acknowledgment that its "Project Impact," an effort to declutter stores and increase efficiency by reducing SKUs, was a snafu almost on the order of "New Coke." It will even offer …

Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) are expected to unveil an online privacy bill tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. An early draft of the bill, circulated last month, would give the Federal Trade Commission authority to craft privacy regulations and to operate a Web site where consumers can opt out of online behavioral targeting. The measure would generally require companies to notify consumers about the collection of their data; it also appears to require that companies allow consumers to opt out of having their data used by third parties, like ad networks.