Comedy Central will be getting some extra off-air promotion from hip retail apparel store Urban Outfitters this fall.    Some 157 locations starting in August 15 --  running for a month -- will sell election-themed merchandise, graphic tees, mugs, tumblers, posters and buttons linked to Comedy Central shows, "The Daily Show …

More than a dozen major retailers Wednesday announced plans to create a mobile payments network that will challenge other m-payments initiatives including Google Wallet and Isis, backed by mobile carriers Verizon Wireless, AT&T and T-Mobile USA. The Merchant Customer Exchange, led by retailers including Wal-Mart, Target, 7-Eleven and Sears, aims to develop a smartphone application that would allow mobile purchases across participating stores as well as enabling offers, promotions and retail programs. The merchants behind MCX, which The Wall Street Journal first reported on in March, are counting on existing relationships with customers to …

Citing media company earnings reports and comments from media buyers, influential Wall Street analyst Brian Wieser has downgraded his estimates for U.S. ad expansion this year and through 2017. Describing previous upbeat sentiment as a "false dawn," Wieser downgraded this 2012 U.S. ad growth projection by nearly a percentage point to +1.4% from his previous estimate of +2.3%.

Underscoring its efforts to ramp up monetization, Facebook has begun testing its page post ad unit in the news feed. Post page ads, which turn any post on a brand page into a Facebook ad, are meant to reach anyone, not just fans of a page. That's significant because previously a page could only advertise in the news feed if users had already “liked” it or had a friend who did. Think Sponsored Stories. The post page ad in the news feed will look like a regular post from a page someone is a fan …

App-building platform AnyPresence has raised $5.5 million in a second-round funding led by Grotech Ventures and including Kinetic Ventures. Founded by former executives at Siebel Systems, Oracle and SAP, AnyPresence offers a software service that helps businesses create, deploy and maintain mobile apps for the iOS and Android platforms. Its solution also includes pre-built mobile app templates. The company says it's currently working with customers in the healthcare, communications and services sectors to accelerate their mobile initiatives. AnyPresence plans to use the new funding invest in product development and sales growth, among other purposes. The …

Mobile marketing company Velti Tuesday reported a narrowing loss and steady revenue growth in the second quarter across its business units and geographic markets globally. On an adjusted basis, the company posted a net loss of $900,000, or one cent per share, compared to $2 million, or four cents per share in the year-earlier period. Revenue reached $58.7 million, up 71% from a year ago. Analysts had expected a loss of one cent per share on revenue of $56.9 million.

The legendary writer and editor, who revived Cosmopolitan in the 1960s, died at 90.

Helen Gurley Brown, editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazines' 64 international editions and one of the world's most influential editors, died today at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center. She was 90.

Google acquired Frommer's travel guidebooks in the latest move to support travel and local commerce in search engine results and Google Local. The content from the deal announced Monday will eventually integrate into Zagat.

Barnes & Noble on Sunday cut the prices of its Nook Tablet devices and Nook Color as it tries to gain a firmer foothold in the tablet space. The company dropped the price of the 16 GB Nook Tablet from $249 to $199 , while the 8 GB was lowered from $199 to $179. The Nook Color now goes for $149, down from $169. The price reductions underscore the challenge Barnes & Noble is faces with direct competitors like Amazon pulling ahead. Data released this month by IDC showed Apple …