The 10 things in advertising you need to know today
1. Yahoo's board is reportedly going to consider a potential sale of its internet business when it meets later this week. Among the potential buyers expected to take a look at Yahoo's business are private-equity shops.
2. Budget airline Ryanair is taking Google to the high court over alleged "misleading and deceptive" online ads. Ryanair is complaining about the way an unaffiliated "screenscraper" website called eDreams, which it claims masquerades as its brand, is promoted right at the top of Google's search engine listings.
3. New York City-headquartered ad tech startup Undertone has been acquired by Israeli marketing software company Perion in an all-cash deal worth $180 million. Perion will now have a bigger presence in the US and combined the two companies are estimated to generate $350 million in net revenue this year.
4. French-based publicly-listed ad tech company Criteo has joined the list of firms that pay Adblock Plus to appear on its "Acceptable Ads" list. Two types of Criteo ads are now whitelisted.
5. Microsoft employees sang carols outside Apple's flagship store for a Christmas commercial. The video, posted on YouTube, shows Microsoft's New York City store employees performing a version of "Let There Be Peace On Earth" outside the Fifth Avenue Apple Store.
6. Even Adobe wants everyone to quit using Flash. The company is encouraging users to make animations in HTML 5 instead and it has rebranded Flash Professional CC to Animate Professional CC.
7. Kate Hudson's workout brand is mocking Lululemon. Fabletics has posted two videos to YouTube that seem to directly mock the extremely popular athleisure brand.
8. GE's odd "What's the Matter with Owen" commercials are working like a charm, it says. The TV commercials have been turning heads among the target recruits, college grads, says Tony Denhart, University Relations Leader at GE Corporate and Andy Goldberg, GE's Chief Creative Officer.
9. Mark Zuckerberg said he is giving away 99% of his shares in Facebook during his lifetime to help initiatives that "advance human potential and promote equality." That equals around $45 billion today.
10. World Cup sponsors Adidas, Coca-Cola, Visa, McDonald's, and AB InBev have written to FIFA's executive committee calling for "independent oversight" of the governing body's reform process, AP reports. The competition's other lead sponsors, Hyundai and Gazprom, are not signatories on the letter.