Across all types of sites, some 38% of ads were never in view to a user, and nearly half are in view for less than 0.5 seconds in 2011, according to data from ad verification firm AdSafe. Ads served in what are considered premium, above-the-fold placements weren't necessarily seen by a user because of the type of device or browser settings they’re using. Conversely, below-the-fold ads might be viewed in a more contextually relevant way depending on a specific page's content and layout, as well as how far down a page a user scrolls. On a major portal, for …

The number of “Likes” being generated from mobile devices has increased by 54% since September, according to social media marketing firm Vitrue. That likely reflects both a growing number of mobile users (more than 350 million worldwide and counting) and increased usage among existing mobile users. More recently, Vitrue found the use of mobile for Liking Facebook brand pages went up 18% just between Christmas and New Year’s. That increase reflects people being out and about more, shopping or doing errands, and turning to their mobile devices more frequently to compare prices or look for online deals. The findings underscore …

In a letter to ICANN Chairman Stephen Crocker, Association of National Advertisers President-CEO Bob Liodice proposed alternative ways to address the ad industry's concerns about its new top-level demand expansion program, which is set to begin accepting applications for new top-level domains on Thursday.

CBS says the last-second sudden death playoff win by the Denver Broncos over the Pittsburgh Steelers -- led by quarterback Tim Tebow -- gave the network the best ratings for wild card game in 24 years. The game pulled in a massive Nielsen 25.9 rating/43 share,  up nearly 40% from last year's Baltimore-Kansas City wild card game, which scored a 18.8/37. Before the Denver-Pittsburgh game, the highest rated wild game was on NBC in 1988 between Seattle and Houston, earning a 26.7 TV household number.

Demand for the iPhone remains strong at the start of 2102, according to a new ChangeWave study. Asked in December which smartphone manufacturer or type of smartphone they planned to buy in the next 90 days, more than half (54%) of the 4,000 North American consumers surveyed named the Apple handset. That figure is down fro 63% in September, a month prior to release of the iPhone 4S, but still well ahead of the field. Samsung, which offers a lineup of Android-based phones, was a distant second behind Apple, at 13%, followed by Motorola (7%), HTC (3%) and BlackBerry …

General Cannabis Inc., which describes itself as a "technology-based Internet marketing services company," just announced it has changed its name to SearchCore Inc. "to reflect the company's expansion of comprehensive marketing services aimed at connecting consumers with lifestyle brands, products and services." The publicly traded company did not explicitly state what lifestyle it markets, but its generalcannabis.com website says it is exploring "opportunities of vertical integration within and outside of the cannabis market through the five core industry sectors identified as probable high growth areas including media, technology, medical and management."

Turner Broadcasting advertising unit undergoes a major realignment in the wake of Linda Yaccarino departure to NBC's cable network. Media agency MediaVest USA senior executive Donna Speciale, will become president, Turner Entertainment & Animation Ad Sales, with longtime Turner and CNN executive Greg D’Alba, in the newly created position of president, News and Turner Digital Ad Sales. The announcement was made by David Levy, president of sales, distribution and …

Good news is good TV rating news for all three broadcast networks last year. Brad Adgate, senior vp and corporate research director of Horizon Media, said all three networks improved their audience delivery for their evening newscasts in 2011. NBC's "NBC Nightly News" averaged 8.8 million viewers  (up from 8.5 million); ABC's "World News Tonight", 7.8 million (up from 7.4 million); and CBS' "CBS Evening News", was at 6.0 million (up from 5.6 million). Adgate says ABC and CBS had its best results since 2008, with NBC having its best year since 2006. NBC’s lead over ABC dropped to 932,000 …

Looking forward to the Consumer Electronics Show next week in Las Vegas? Google will make several announcements related to TV, demoing new Google TV-powered devices at CES. LG becomes the fourth major TV manufacturer to begin building Google TVs. Chipset manufacturers Marvell and MediaTek will begin supplying chipsets for the next generation of Google TVs, helping to add in new products and prices. Samsung Google TV products will come out later thisyear. 

What’s generating buzz in the buildup to that technology industry bacchanalia known as CES? The most talk is still around tablets but TVs are seeing the biggest year-over-year gains in online buzz, according to new data from Nielsen’s NM Incite unit. TVs accounted for 21% of pre-CES chatter, up from about 10% a year ago, while tablets dropped from 31% to 23%. Much of the excitement around TVs stems from a company that won’t even be at CES next week—Apple. But the expectation that the tech giant will launch its own connected TV this year has sparked broader interest …