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London advertising agency WPP Group plc, which is aggressively expanding in the U.S. is close to acquiring a digital advertising firm. WPP CEO Martin Sorrell hinted as much to Bloomberg earlier this week, leading to speculation in the New York Post today that the target could be Spot Runner Inc., an Internet firm that helps local and small businesses...

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When Tech Confidential spoke with BlueLithium Inc. CEO Gurbaksh Chahal in May, he acknowledged receiving feelers from potential buyers, but said the behavioral advertising firm was focused on an IPO in early 2008. Whether that was a subtle negotiating ploy or the company’s actual strategy is uncertain, but BlueLithium is now a part of Yahoo! Inc. after it was...

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After getting blindsided in the Internet search business, especially by Google Inc., Yahoo! Inc. is making sure it’s a force to be reckoned with on the next frontier of search — mobile devices. The Internet media giant snapped up mobile marketing firm Actionality Inc. for an undisclosed amount. A Yahoo! spokesperson tells Tech Confidential that the acquisition is "continuing...

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Israeli VC firm Carmel Ventures is leading a $10.3 million second round of funding in Kontera Technologies Inc., a developer of in-text advertising technology that has offices in San Francisco and Israel. Led by former tech entrepreneurs and execs, Carmel Ventures is one of Israel's most active tech VC firms, with $372 million under management. Earlier this year, it...

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If the run on online marketing companies seen this year hasn’t been enough to convince you that the shift in advertising dollars is moving to the Internet and away from dead-tree newspapers (Rupert Murdoch’s $5.6 billion acquisition of Dow Jones & Co. notwithstanding), perhaps Tuesdays report from Veronis Suhler Stevenson and PQ Media LLC will. The report indicates that Internet...

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Shares of Monday’s big loser, ValueClick Inc., were trading modestly higher early Tuesday, helped in part by a research note from Jefferies & Co. analyst Youssef Squali. Shares of the online advertising firm were up 2% early on after Squali said the 20% drop seen Monday was unwarranted based on the company’s fundamentals and because the company remains an M&A...

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Businesses are always looking for new, improved ways of getting people to buy their product, while advertisers are happy to think of ever more intrusive ways to compel consumers to take out their wallets. In the wake of the major Web portals spending big bucks to acquire advertising clout, behavioral advertising has gained interest, to wit, Microsoft Corp.'s buy of...

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Earlier this week Nielsen Co. purchased mobile phone ad tracking company Telephia Inc. for an undisclosed amount. Telephia has raised more than $102 million from venture capitalists, who have bet a lot of money on different ways of  tracking and generating ads across a variety of devices. Aggregating viewer data across the many devices consumers own will be helpful...

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Those annoying video ads that interrupt the loading of a Web page — pre-rolls as they are called by media mavens — may soon be a thing of the past. Increasingly, advertisers are embracing a kinder, gentler type of online video ad, created by New York City-based Vibrant Media, one of the companies featured today at the 3rd Annual Internet...

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Radio advertising tests launched by Google Inc. this month will be closely watched by those in the advertising industry fearing for their media placement dollars, but with a $1 billion earnout at stake from Google's January purchase of dMarc Broadcasting, investors in the acquired company likely have their eyes on the results. Those investors include advertising marketer Ad Pepper Media...

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