Aegis Group, the London-based agency holding company that began as a Paris-based media-buying service is about to become part of a Tokyo-based marketing services giant that will be one of the largest in the world. In a surprise deal announced during the wee hours, the board and key managers of Aegis agreed to be acquired by Dentsu in an offer valued at $3.85 billion.

Publicis' Leo Burnett USA unit today unveiled a new research system based on "metaphors" that it claims could replace conventional forms of ad research, such as focus groups. The technique, dubbed MetaphorMining," was developed by Boston-based Protobrand, and utilizes "visual psychology techniques" via an online platform and to conduct brand metaphor research.

The Digital Place-based Advertising Association (DPAA) announced today that it has elected two industry technology suppliers to its board of directors, a first for the association made possible by a recent amendment to DPAA's bylaws allowing suppliers to serve on its board alongside network operators.

The Advertising Research Foundation this morning announced that it elected representatives from six major brand marketers to its board.

Oracle has acquired social media marketing startup Involver as it continues to expand its presence in the market for social media services. It marks the third acquisition in the emerging area in the last two months. In June, Oracle snapped up social monitoring firm Collective Intellect, and in May bought Vitrue for a reported $300 million. Founded in 2007, Involver’s platform helps brands such as Toys R’ Us, Best Buy and MTV manage their presence on Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites. “Involver’s SML technology is expected to extend Oracle’s social platform to help customers more easily …

In its latest effort to ramp up ad revenue, Facebook is planning to show more ads per page. The social network is testing a way to show users up to 10 display ads on a page, up from the prior maximum of seven, according to the Inside Facebook blog. If expanded, the step could drive down click-through rates for ads because of the increased competition for attention on a given page. “Interestingly, 10 ads are more likely to appear next to a page post if a user navigates to the page after clicking an ad as opposed to getting …

Alex Bogusky is returning to Adland after a two-year hiatus, the Wall Street Journal is reporting. Bogusky was the top creative executive at MDC Partners' Crispin Porter + Bogusky before departing in 2010 to pursue a variety of other interests including a number of cause-related marketing projects. According to the Journal, Bogusky is reuniting with several former CP+Bers who earlier this year formed a new ad shop called Made Movement that focuses on marketing efforts for products and services that are made in America. The Boulder-based Made was founded by the trio Dave Schiff, Scott Prindle and John Kieselhorst, who, …

Chevrolet is hoping to give fence sitters a nudge into dealerships with a new program that hearkens back to Hyundai Motor America's old 10 year, 100,000 mile warranty. The automaker is letting consumers return vehicles for a refund if, after they buy them, they don't like them.

Yahoo today went live with Genome, the audience analytics service it announced in May during Internet Week that stems from its $270 million acquisition of interclick last November. The platform promises to help marketers deliver highly-targeted campaigns based on user data (including search) from Yahoo’s audience of 700 million combined with third-party data from interclick and advertiser data, among other sources. By tapping into “big data” through Genome, advertisers would have the ability to build precise audience profiles and make more efficient media buys, as well as gain preferred access to inventory across Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft, and the …

The Washington Post has partnered with Socialcam to be the official news partner for the Summer Olympic Games on the popular social video app. Under their arrangement, Post reporters in London will use Socialcam to conduct on-the-scene interviews and capture live moments. People at the Games will also be invited to share their own Socialcam videos, a selection of which will be featured in an interactive map on a new Post site called London Eyes. The site will debut in mid-July and stay up until the end of the Games the following month. The Post is the first API …