Coca-Cola trumps Pepsi when it comes to generating mobile scans, according to new second quarter data from barcode technology provider ScanLife. Out of the total number of barcodes scanned for the two brands, Coke accounted for 67% and Pepsi, 33%. Overall, ScanLife reported 16.2 million scans of UPC and 2D barcodes took place through its ScanLife app or other 2D scanning apps. That total included 5.3 million in June, a monthly record. QR code campaigns promoting beverages had the most scans in the quarter. Other top industry categories in terms of scanning activity included quick-serve …

As part of its effort to ramp up mobile monetization, Facebook has launched a service in beta that will let app developers run ads in mobile news feeds. The company in May opened its App Center to help promote developers' wares, and says that in the last 30 days alone it has sent users to Apple's App Store and Google Play 146 million times to download titles. “Mobile ads are an additional way to drive people to apps. When a person clicks on one of …

Starbucks has struck a partnership with mobile payments startup Square to use its technology to process payments at its 7,000 U.S. stores. The coffee chain already allows customers to use its own branded app to pay for items, but it will now also accept payments from people using the Pay With Square app. Under their agreement, Square will also take over processing debit and credit card transactions for Starbucks. Given Starbucks' national footprint, the move should help accelerate adoption of mobile payments more widely. In a blog post today, …

Former president of market research company Ipsos OTX Media CT Bruce Friend has joined research company Vision Critical as president of its media and entertainment unit, according to reports. Friend head up this new division, based in Los Angeles, which will compete in an already crowded market in Hollywood when it comes to film research. Other companies include Friend's former outlet, Ipsos, as well as MarketCast and the venerable National Research Group. Friend had also worked MTV, HBO, Telemundo and Sony before joining OTX, which was later acquired by Ipsos.  

In its latest monthly metrics report, mobile ad network Jumptap suggests campaigns that utilize third-party data perform better than those without. A second-quarter study of campaigns in various industry verticals found those using specialized targeting data had double-digit increases in click-through rates. The largest CTR increases were seen in travel (up 72%), auto (69%) and pharmaceutical (37.5%). Finance, CPG, technology and insurance all had CTR gains of 25% to 35%. Jumptap works with third-party data providers including

To help ramp up efforts to monetize its location-based service, Foursquare has tapped former Yahoo executive Rob Wilk as vice president of sales. Before joining Foursquare, Wilk was senior director, search account management at Yahoo, overseeing a team of 60 tasked with driving optimal search performance for some of the company's largest advertisers. Other than a short stint at ChaCha Mobile, he has spent most of the last 17 years with Yahoo in various management positions including directory of agency sales and regional sales manager. Based in New …

Mobile ad exchange Nexage has closed another $5 million in funding from Hearst Interactive Media, bringing its total second-round venture financing to $15 million. Prior investors in the round included SingTel Innov8, Relay Ventures and GrandBanks Capital. “Nexage has been able to take and maintain industry leadership, especially in mobile RTB,” said Darcy Frisch, VP, Hearst Interactive Media, in a statement. “We are thrilled about this opportunity to invest in Nexage, helping it …

Mobile demand-side platform (DSP) StrikeAd on Monday announced its expansion into Asia with the opening of a new office in Singapore. Leading its Asian operations is Carl Costa, previously a founder and managing director of mobile gaming and advertising network 24MAS. Before that, Costa was VP of sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa for Enpocket, which was acquired by Nokia in 2007.

"Reader Beware," the Financial Times Blog Alphaville warns near the top of its site. Reporters contributing to the blog don't necessarily check the facts before running with a story. And the result is that some stories, the site acknowledges, turn out to be "complete rubbish." And that's exactly what a report turned out to be on the FT site last Friday afternoon, regarding merger talks between Publicis Groupe and Interpublic Group. Today Publicis issued a formal statement that indicated that the FT Blog story was, well, complete rubbish. No truth to it all. The blog then apologized for the story …

Interpublic Company shares were up 12% to nearly $11 on market speculation that Publicis Groupe was preparing a takeover offer of approximately $6 billion for the company. The initial report that triggered the speculation was a blog published by the Financial Times. The IPG trading activity passed a certain threshold that triggered a call to the holding from the New York Stock Exchange, where the company's shares are traded, requesting that IPG issue a statement addressing the speculation. According to sources, if some big transaction was up that the company was aware that was moving its stock, it would have …