Facebook shares closed above $30 on Wednesday for the first time in six months, signaling rising investor confidence in the social network ahead of it fourth quarter earning report later this month. Following its botched IPO in May, the company’s stock tumbled from an opening price of $38 a share down to a low of $17.55 in September. Facebook’s stock has rebounded since then in part by ramping up its mobile business, which accounted for 14% of its ad revenue in the third quarter compared to almost nothing in the prior quarter. Facebook shares were up 4% Wednesday to …

Turn has named Max Ochoa general counsel and corporate secretary. He joins from Cox Reps, a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises, where he was general counsel and vice president of human resources. His responsibilities also included finance and order-to-cash operations at Cox Digital Solutions, a Cox Reps subsidiary. Prior to that role, he was general counsel and corporate secretary for Adify, which was sold to Cox Enterprises in 2008.

TV, online and digital out-of-home advertising sales vet John McMenamin has joined online news publisher GlobalPost as Chief Revenue Officer. McMenamin, a who has held high-level posts at Dow Jones & Company, NBC Internet, and Turner Broadcasting, joins from Cablevision Systems, where he was a consultant "developing new multi-platform television news networks." He will be based in New York, overseeing a sales organization that includes recently appointed sales execs, including National Account Director Orin Shands, who was previously a senior planner in the New York office of MEC.

LinkedIn on Wednesday announced hitting 200 million, just two years after reaching the 100 million mark in 2011. Now available in 200 countries and 19 languages, the online professional network has seen added 13 million just since the last member update on Nov. 1. “This milestone is more than just a metric – it’s a reminder of  the global footprint and the scale of impact our network has each day,” stated Deep Nishar, VP of Product at LinkedIn in a blog post today. “Members come first at LinkedIn and we remain focused on creating economic opportunity for every professional …

Oprah Winfrey Network has scored a major sports interview coup with malign Tour de France cycling champion and celebrated cancer survivor Lance Armstrong. A special 90-minute program will air on "Oprah's Next Chapter" on Thursday, January 17, in what an OWN press release says is a "no holds barred interview" with Oprah Winfrey. The interview, simultaneously streamed live worldwide on Oprah.com, will be conducted in his Austin, Tx  home.  An extensive U.S. Anti-Doping Agency report last year revealed Armstrong and his U.S. Postal cycling team had engaged in years of systematic doping. …

Andrew Benett, Arnold Worldwide Global CEO, has been appointed to the new role of Global President at Havas Worldwide, the agency confirmed Tuesday. Benett will assume responsibility for leading the day-to-day management of the global network, previously handled by David Jones, who is also head of the parent company Havas. Benett will report to Jones, who will remain Global CEO of the Havas Worldwide network. Succeeding Benett at Arnold is Robert LePlae, previously the shop's Global President. LePlae will also report to Jones. Jones stated: "This is an incredibly exciting time for our industry, presenting fantastic opportunities for big talents …

They've always been referred to as worldwide travelers, but thanks to a deal with China's Tencent, the Harlem Globetrotters will be about as global as any basketball team possibly could be. The deal with Tencent, an Internet service provider whose QQ browser reaches 5.1 billion users, the Globetrotters will have global reach via a series of promotions and featuring the teams star basketball players, as well as team mascot Globie.

ESPN big Bowl Championship Series title game between Alabama and Notre Dame did well in ratings -- even though Crimson Tide crushed the Irish, 42-12, and the game was decided early on. Ratings grew 14% to a Nielsen preliminary 15.7 TV household rating over a year ago in January 2012 when ESPN aired the Alabama-LSU game -- another rout, 21-0 -- which gave Alabama the college football title.  Analysts say ratings were muted this time around -- especially because the game had no real drama throughout its duration. Still, the two big storied …

AT&T enjoyed a strong holiday season, selling 10 million smartphones in the fourth quarter. That topped the record 9.4 million units sold in the year-earlier period. The carrier also had its best ever quarter for Android phone and iPhone sales. “We had another incredible quarter of smartphone sales as the mobile Internet continues to drive strong growth in wireless,” said Ralph de la Vega, head of AT&T Mobility, in a statement. “These are the industry’s most valuable postpaid subscribers with average revenues twice that of non-smartphone subscribers. He added the company sold an average of 110,000 smartphones a day, …

Online audience measurement firm Quantcast has acquired MakeGood, a software company focusing on reconciliation and reporting of digital ad campaigns.