President Barack Obama reportedly signed a bill on Thursday that enables Facebook and Netflix to integrate.

WPP Group has raided a client-side media chief to serve as the media chief for a client-specific advertising unit, naming former Kellogg's Co. Vice President-Global Media Betzy Lazar Chief Media Officer of Ford Motor Co. ad unit Team Detroit.

Linda Woolley, acting president-CEO of the Direct Marketing Association since May 2012, has been named its permanent chief, taking the helm as DMA's president and CEO, effective immediately. Prior to becoming acting chief, Woolley was executive vice president of the DMA's Washington operations.

Interpublic media shop UM has promoted Hamish Kinniburgh to head of global strategy. He succeeds Jim Elms who was recently promoted global chief strategy officer at Mediabrands, the IPG unit that oversees media operations. Previously Kinniburgh was chief strategy director for UM's Europe Middle East and Africa region. He now reports to Jacki Kelley, UM's global CEO. In addition to leading strategic initiatives for the shop globally, Kinniburgh will continue as lead strategist on the agency's Coca-Cola account, according to Campaign, which broke the news of his promotion.

Rising adoption of smartphones and tablets helped U.S. commerce grow 81% last year to nearly $25 billion, according to a new eMarketer report. The research firm projects that total will increase another 55% this year to $52 billion and reach $86 billion by 2016. Shopping on tablets in particular will take off, accounting for nearly half ($24 billion) of projected m-commerce sales in 2013, and twice that amount by 2015. Retails sales via smartphones will grow more slowly, increasing 36% to $13.4 billion this year, and $24.3 billion by 2016. Tablets alone will drive 9.4% of all retail e-commerce …

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. …