Social shopper marketing company Collective Bias on Tuesday announced raising $10.5 million in a first-round funding led by Updata Partners. The Bentonville, Ark.-based company said it would use the new financing to enhance its technology platform and further expand internationally. Started in 2009, Collective Bias is built around the idea social marketing will supplant traditional retail marketing vehicles like free-standing inserts and circulars. Its Social Fabric platform is private community of 1,400 shopping-focused bloggers that clients use to gain consumer insights and identify brand advocates to create content for campaigns. Bloggers who opt to participate in campaigns typically …

Aereo's online video service can continue to operate, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this morning.

Chevrolet is launching a campaign for the 2014 Chevrolet Impala starting this Sunday with the start of the 2013 Major League Baseball season. It is also the first campaign that uses the "Find New Roads" platform. The spot will debut on MLB Network, ESPN, Fox Sports and TBS. Called "Tuxedo Man."

Amazon on Thursday announced its acquisition of popular book recommendation site Goodreads.  Terms of the deal, expected to close in the second quarter, were not disclosed.  Founded in 2007, Goodreads now boasts more than 16 million members who participate in more than 30,000 book clubs on the site. Besides sharing recommendations, it allows users to compare what they’re reading, keep track of what they’ve read and would like to read, and post ratings and reviews. For Amazon, Goodreads would provide something like a book-centered social network to help promote sales through its Kindle devices and Web site. Russ Grandinetti, …

Local search provider YP is partnering with Yext to offer enterprise customers the company’s PowerListings tool for managing their listings across top local search properties including Yahoo, MapQuest and Yelp. Yext’s PowerListings network reaches an overall audience of 150 million monthly unique visitors across more than 45 search engines, directories and mapping services. The service allows businesses to automatically update business information as well post marketing messages including, videos and special offers directly in their online listings. Under the deal, YP will sell PowerListings as part of its suite of digital advertising solutions. YP.com and YP Mobile reach 50 …

Facebook on Wednesday rolled out enhanced targeting features for its mobile app install ads that allow developers to reach specific versions of Android and iOS as well as devices with Wi-Fi-only connections. “Now you can tailor specific messages to people based on which operating system version they are using (e.g., iOS 6 or Jelly Bean 4.2), which means that you can reach people with the version of your app that will work best on their device,” stated a post on the Facebook Studio blog today. The company also suggested the Wi-Fi targeting is well suited to promoting apps that …

Mobile ad network InMobi today debuted a new service aimed at helping Android developers to more easily distribute their titles to app stores beyond just Google Play. In particular, InMobi pointed to other app storefronts such as GetJar, Mobango, Slide Me as well as several based in China. In all, the company’s new App Publish platform promises to power distribution of apps across 130 app stores worldwide  with “just a few clicks” and manage their presence in each using a single dashboard. The system is also designed to automatically accommodate different app store or legal requirements and handle …

Internet ad spending hit $99 billion in 2012, just shy of the 12-figure mark held by only one other medium -- television -- according to new estimates from GroupM. Based on its current trajectory, Internet ad spending will break into the 12-figures this year, totaling $113.5 billion. Internet ad spending rose 16.2% in 2012, representing 19.5% of all global ad spending last year, according to the report. North America led the world in overall digital advertising investment with an estimated $38.3 billion; Asia-Pacific came in second with $30.6 billion followed by Western Europe with $24.1 billion, according to the study, …

In the last two years, the share of traffic coming from mobile apps on Jumptap’s mobile ad network has nearly doubled from 45% to 84%, according to new data released by the company on Tuesday. That finding roughly parallels a separate study by Compuware last week that found smartphone and tablets users prefer using apps to the mobile Web by 85% to 15%. With hoops fans in the grip of March Madness, the Jumptap report spotlights mobile habits in connection to the NCAA basketball tournament. When it comes to device choices among fans following the event, the iPod touch came …

Yahoo today said it plans to build new data and customer service centers in Western New York this year, adding 115 new jobs across engineering, technology, and customer care. The planned expansion builds on Yahoo's existing data facility in Lockport, New York, which opened in 2010. Read more here.