Nielsen has enlisted WPP's GroupM unit in his campaign to make its new Online Campaign Ratings the "currency" of online media buys, as well as cross-platform planning and buying that has online as an integral element. The companies said GroupM and Nielsen will each "contribute resources and expertise to create Cross-Platform Campaign Ratings and make it available to GroupM clients."

In the wake of a disappointing earnings report in its fiscal fourth quarter, online radio service named a trio of new advertising executive appointments. Tommy Pizzo, formerly with BrightRoll, joins Pandora as regional vice president for the East Coast. Based out of the company’s New York office, Pizzo will focus on providing clients innovative, cross-platform ad solutions. Pandora also hired Brian Colbert as vice president for mobile advertising sales, charged with helping marketers reach their desired audiences across its mobile properties. Previously, he was senior director of mobile ad sales and strategy at ESPN. Pandora also promoted Brian Mikalis …

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia has named Alison Adler Matz senior vice president and publisher of MSLO's Everyday Food and Whole Living brands. She joins from Fairchild Fashion Media, where she was Publisher of WWD Beauty Inc.

More than seven in 10 mobile users are open to, or already, using their smartphones or tablets as part of the car-buying process, a new survey finds. The study by mobile ad network Verve Wireless also indicates nearly half recall seeing an automotive ad on their device in the last 30 days. When people are researching auto purchases, the main types of information they’re looking for is material about a particular model (40%), photos (38%), and dealership locations (25%). The kinds of vehicles people are interested in are fairly diversified, with SUVs leading the way (15), followed by sports cars …

CBS and Turner Broadcasting coverage of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament say they have scored the highest average viewership in 21 years for the first big day – Thursday -- of the month long event. Airing multiple games on CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV for the second year yield 4% higher viewers over the 2011 tournament to average 7.7 million. Network executives say it was the most watched “first Thursday” since 1991. The network says it broke down ratings of the big initial all-day Thursday second round into “four” windows of multiple games …

One of the major “task sponsors” in NBC's Celebrity Apprentice” has a major problem with Donald Trump’s kids travails around an African safari hunt in which several animals were killed – and revealed in gruesome photographs. According to several reports, Marcus Lemonis chairman/CEO of Good Sam and Camping World, said company won’t be advertising or sponsoring any segment in the show “in the future” – even though he doesn’t blame Donald Trump or the show. Trump, in speaking to TMZ.com, who originally broke the story, said …

The display ad-pooling partnership announced by Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft in November is now operational, with the companies now offering each other’s unsold inventory, according to a Yahoo blog post today. The alliance was formed to help the traditional Web portals expand their reach for advertisers while aiming to stem inroads made by Facebook and Google into the display ad space. Yahoo’s and AOL’s non-reserved inventory on premium pages will be offered through Right Media Exchange, while Microsoft’s inventory will remain on the Microsoft Advertising Exchange at launch. Read more here.

Not everyone at the Apple Store in Washington, D.C.’s posh Georgetown neighborhood will be there to buy a new iPad on Friday. Those protesting working conditions at Apple factories in China plan to demonstrate outside that retail location Friday in connection with the launch of the third-generation Apple tablet. The effort stems from a petition launched by an Apple user on Change.org in January asking Apple to prevent workplace abuses attracted 250,000 supporters. The signatures were subsequently delivered to six Apple Stores around the world. Apple last month tapped an outside organization, the Fair Labor Association, to audit conditions …

Mobile ad network Millennial Media plans to raise $102 million through its planned initial public offering, selling 10.2 million shares at a price range of $9 to $11, according to a new SEC filing Thursday. Millennial, which filed for an IPO in January, reported revenue of $106 million in 2011, more than double the $47.8 million in the prior year. But it remains unprofitable. The company had loss of 287,000 last year, down from $7.1 million in 2010. Millennial said the revenue increase was driven by more campaigns from existing clients, larger campaign size and new brands that began …

Media shop Mindshare, a unit of WPP's GroupM has been awarded media responsibilities for Rent-A-Center in the continental U.S. and Puerto Rico, the client and agency confirmed today. The client spent over $30 million on ads in 2011, according to Kantar Media. The assignment includes media planning and buying responsibilities for traditional broadcast TV and radio. The win followed a four-month review. That included the incumbent, Omnicom's OMD and other contenders. Rent-A-Center offers customers name-brand furniture, electronics, appliances and computers through flexible rental purchase agreements. Last year the company reported annual revenues of more than $3 billion.