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Facebook said its head of advertising sales, Michael Murphy, is stepping down in December, leaving a vacancy in one of the social-networking giant's key positions.

MySpace and some popular applications have been transmitting information to outside advertising companies that could be used to identify users, a Journal investigation found.

Twitter is now selling its "Promoted Tweets" for $100,000, according to an article in this morning's Wall St. Journal. "Promoted Tweets," which allow companies to buy the top spot on Twitter's Search results page, is just one of the microblogging network's new advertising initiatives as of late. The idea behind these digital ads is that the service allows companies to associate themselves with a certain trend or keyword.

AOL is preparing to introduce a larger, splashier ad format that it hopes will attract more ad dollars from big brands and help revitalize its business.

Yahoo (YHOO) and Gannett (GCI) announced today that they have formed a local advertising partnership.

The social-networking site is aggressively pitching to big advertisers like Ford Motor Co. and PepsiCo Inc. the latest in a series of ad formats that tell users which of their Facebook friends have expressed interest in the brand or product featured in the ad.

Twitter this week began testing a new type of advertising: “Promoted Trends.” Under the new system, brands can pay to appear below the “Trending Topics,” the most talked-about terms on Twitter at any given moment.

Last week, media consultant Frederic Filloux argued in his Monday Note and, through syndication, in the Washington Post that the digital ad industry is like an early-stage cancer patient -- already dying but still in denial. And, as the Post called them in its headline, smug.

Google revealed for the first time how it splits advertising revenue with search and content publishers, a move made in response to calls from publishers and regulators for greater transparency.

The surprising endorsement by the Federal Trade Commission of Google’s deal for AdMob follows Apple’s purchase of Quattro Wireless, an AdMob rival.