1. Publicis Groupe has announced it is acquiring US-based digital advertising specialists Sapient for $3.7 billion. The move to bolster its digital and technology operations comes five months after Publicis' proposed $35 billion merger with Omnicom Group collapsed.
2. Sir Martin Sorrell, the chief executive of the world's biggest advertising holding group, WPP, says the transaction "looks like the behavior of a jilted lover." He thinks Publicis is on the rebound after the failed Omnicom deal.
3. Check out these 5 surprising subliminal sex messages hidden in ads. Brand examples include Coca-Cola, Palmolive and Skittles.
4. Start reading up on the new tech buzzword: "blended reality." HP has outlined its plans to lead the blended reality trend with its Sprout PC, which lets consumers take actual objects and "put" them into their computers.
5. AOL has created what it claims is the industry's first programmatic marketplace for television. AOL has partnered with Australian media advertising company MCN to give advertisers the opportunity to buy targeted audiences across 70 subscription channels, according to a press release announcing the partnership.
6. AdAge has investigated a new type of online ad fraud: URL masking. The technique is used to trick advertisers into buying ads on sites which have illicit or stolen content, which generate lots of traffic, but very little revenue.
7. On the subject of ad fraud: several US advertising trade bodies have joined forces to create the Trustworthy Accountability Group, the Wall Street Journal's CMO Today reports. The new entity will aim to combat ad fraud, online piracy and the spread of malware.
8. Adweek has picked out "12 stars of ad tech" building the future of the advertising industry. Entrants include Pubmatic president Kirk McDonald, VivaKi Data CEO Stephan Beringer and Oracle Data Cloud general manager Omar Tawakol.
9. Microsoft Advertising has laid off the majority of the global sales team. The executive team, headed by corporate vice president of advertising and online Frank Holland, remains in place.
10. Econsultancy explores whether there is a future for branded native apps. Recent research from Deloitte shows new app downloads are waning, so response web design is a must.
