Online Advertising

No one expects a free lunch. So when people use a free webmail service, many assume they will be bombarded with advertising. Why? Obviously, because the webmail services make money by commercializing the content of the webmail! Actually when you sign up for free webmail, and click "I Accept," or som...

Facebook reportedly will begin providing TV broadcasters with data about the chatter their shows are inspiring on the site. Facebook is in fierce competition with Twitter to become the primary destination for second-screen users to post their reactions and engage with others while watching TV series...

After three years of wrangling with Google over its alleged anticompetitive business practices, the EU has suggested there may be some light at the end of the tunnel. "We have reached a key moment in this case," EC Vice President Joaquin Almunia, who is responsible for competition policy, said at a ...

Google may have breached federal and California wiretapping laws by machine-scanning Gmail messages in order to deliver targeted advertising, U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh ruled on Thursday. As a result of the ruling, a class-action suit against Google over the issue can now proceed. The suit, whi...

Google reportedly is developing its own anonymous identifier for advertising, AdID, that will replace third-party cookies as a way for advertisers to track consumers' online browsing activity. Its aim is to give consumers more privacy and control over their Web browsing. Google's AdID apparently wil...

Twitter reportedly is in talks with TV networks and advertisers in advance of its IPO, which is expected later this year. Twitter executives are meeting with TV industry reps during the AdWeek conference in New York City this week. Twitter wants to strengthen its revenue flow through partnerships le...

Tumblr has teamed up with social analytics company DataSift to provide users with information about consumer engagement and sentiment. As of Monday, DataSift subscribers gained access to both historic and real-time data about what consumers were posting about their brands in Tumblr's 5.5 billion mon...

Twitter is acquiring mobile advertising exchange MoPub in order to support advertisers' efforts to optimize their ad buys. MoPub helps advertisers and publishers buy, manage and maximize performance of a variety of ads, especially those on mobile platforms. Twitter plans to invest in MoPub's core bu...

Facebook on Monday began rolling out new tools designed to help news organizations uncover the real-time conversations people are having across the social network. The company released two APIs to a handful of online publications. The Public Feed allows news organizations to integrate Facebook conve...

One short year ago, Facebook had virtually no presence on the mobile platform, at least in terms of ad activity and monetization. Today, it's not only flourishing but showing real signs of leading the pack one day. The latest indicator comes from eMarketer, which on Wednesday released upwardly revis...