ad networks

Just days after a Microsoft and Yahoo search-engine and advertising partnership was approved by U.S. and European regulators, Google has rolled out an upgraded ad-serving platform for publishers. Dubbed DoubleClick for Publishers, or DFP for short, the single platform replaces DoubleClick's DART for Publishers and Google Ad Manager by combining Google's technology and infrastructure with DoubleClick's display-advertising and ad-serving experience.

Michael Bayle has been fielding a lot of phone calls in the two months since Google bought mobile-ad company AdMob for $750 million. Bayle is a vice-president at Amobee, also in the business of placing ads on wireless handsets. "Our phone has been ring-ringing off the hook," Bayle says. "We are speaking to a number of parties."

On Wednesday, Opera Software revealed its latest interest: mobile advertising. The Norwegian browser maker has acquired AdMarvel with an eye toward monetization of Opera-branded mobile products and services offered by mobile operators and content partners.

Based in San Mateo, Calif., AdMarvel works with a broad set of advertising players to improve the performance of mobile advertising. The startup was founded in 2006 by a team of mobile veterans led by CEO Mahi de Silva.

On Wednesday, Opera Software revealed its latest interest: Mobile advertising. The Norwegian browser maker has acquired AdMarvel with an eye toward monetization of Opera-branded mobile products and services offered by mobile operators and content partners.

Based in San Mateo, Calif., AdMarvel works with a broad set of advertising players to improve the performance of mobile advertising. The startup was founded in 2006 by a team of mobile veterans led by CEO Mahi de Silva.

Google has made several enhancements to its anti-malvertising site to help its ad network customers prevent attempts to distribute malware through advertising.

The web giant launched an initial custom search engine at the beginning of the year, which is designed to allow ad networks to perform quick background checks on prospective advertisers to minimize the risk of malware.

"It checks a variety of independent, third party sites that track possible attempts to distribute malware through advertising," said a statement on the site.

Microsoft's release of the final version of Internet Explorer 8 has sparked controversy on everything from glitches to market share. Now user privacy has joined the list.

When Microsoft released IE8 last Thursday it included features that can block advertising networks from tracking a user's Web surfing. The features are InPrivate Browsing and InPrivate Filtering.

Already facing a grim economic forecast, U.S. newspapers are digesting another piece of bad news: The growth in online advertising they saw as their salvation has slowed to a crawl.

You've been browsing the Internet lately for information about carbon emissions to help your daughter with her climate change project at school.

You've also done a little shopping in advance of the holidays, buying that more-than-you-really-wanted-to-pay-for digital camera for your spouse.

Now, instead of that usual Staples banner ad on the online site of your local newspaper, you are getting ads about hybrid cars and high-definition TVs.

Media conglomerate Cox Enterprises Inc., betting its future on Internet advertising as newspaper and television audiences shrink, plans to spend $300 million to buy a startup that helps Web sites pool their ad space.

The all-cash deal with Adify Corp., to be announced Tuesday, represents the latest evolution for a media company that began more than a century ago with one newspaper in Dayton, Ohio. As new technologies emerged, Cox expanded to include radio, television and cable systems across the country.

The Associated Press announced Monday it will further cut fees paid by struggling newspaper members and will develop an advertising-supported service that will deliver stories and photos to advanced cell phones, including the iPhone.

The service, which will carry local news from participating newspapers as well as national and international news from the AP, is being tested with several newspaper companies and is expected to launch in the summer under the name Mobile News Network, the AP said.