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Dawdle on an e-commerce site? Expect ads for that site--even the items you browsed--to stalk you for days, even weeks in ads on other sites. Now those so-called "retargeted" ads are going somewhere else: Facebook's news feed.

It may seem like an odd market to tackle, but even among young kids, tablet use is growing. A Nielsen study from earlier this year found that 70 percent of children aged 12 and under who live in a household with a tablet use said tablet. At the same time, just 15 percent were said to have used them for communicating with friends and family. That low number could provide a significant opportunity, should the right product arrive that manages to make communication functions more appealing to the tween and under 12 set.

"It's Even Pin-Worthy On fan sites for the books the Audis are mentioned, and Pinterest pages dedicated to "50 Shades" have pinned images of the cars. The Edgewater Hotel in Seattle, one of the cities where much of the books take place, even created a promotion to bait consumers inspired by the books that includes waterfront accommodations, champagne and a demo drive of an Audi through a partnership with a local car dealership. While that sort of attention's been great for the brand, the real potential lies in the possibility of Audi being written into the forthcoming film version of "50 Shades of Grey." A couple years ago, Volvo milked its tie-in with the tween vampire saga "Twilight", creating a viral-video campaign by EuroRSCG and promotional giveaways."

Ouch, not even an extra $50 could convince Blackberry owners to get another Blackberry.

The first, 60-second instalment of the "cinematic cat-and-mouse caper", which surrounds a rapper's attempts to reach a secret gig, will air during The X Factor and invite viewers to vote for what he and his stunt-driving female companion should do next by tweeting. The votes will be instantly counted to determine which version of the second instalment should air later in the show. After another vote the conclusion will air during The X Factor results show on Sunday evening.

"Almost as many Americans (236.5 million) watched TV on their phones during the second quarter of 2012, as watched it on a conventional TV set (283.3 million), albeit for much shorter durations. While the average American spends nearly 145 hours per month watching TV on a traditional TV, Nielsen didn't even report the average time they spend watching on their phones. But mobile subscribers watching video on their phones -- a smaller sub-segment of about 37 million Americans -- spend an average of five hours and 20 minutes watching TV on their phones each month, an increase of 31 minutes over the second quarter of 2011."

Absurd pricing. "Recently, Tumblr partnered with Union Metrics to provide full-blown analytics for users. The companies didn't say what they'd charge -- until now. Turns out, Union wants nearly $1,000 a month from companies that have multiple Tumblrs. And that's not even the top price. If you want "industry benchmarks" -- that's likely average data across a range of Tumblrs to compare yourself with -- then it will cost you "max." It's not clear what Union means by "max" as a price. Perhaps, if you have to ask you can't afford it: The "max" package is targeted at "the largest agencies and brands.""

"The new section, which Spotify is labeling "Discover," surfaces content such as songs, playlists, and live-performance videos that Spotify users haven't discovered yet but which they may like based on their past listening habits. The section is laid out in a visual-driven experience incorporating images and videos in a big-tile grid that has some traces of Pinterest.  "It's another new canvas for us to look at the right way for brands to participate in the music experience," Mr. Levick said in the interview. "

"Big brands and agencies are used to lots of attention from Facebook and Google, so it's no surprise the presidential campaigns, with their vast ad budgets, got some, too. But as the election fades, Ad Age has learned more about just how closely the two largest sellers of digital advertising worked with the campaigns, even sending employees to work onsite at campaign offices and their respective digital consultancies. "Google staffers were hand-selected by Google to sit in our office and help us," confirmed Zac Moffatt, digital director for Mitt Romney's campaign. Multiple people who worked closely with the Barack Obama campaign did not respond to requests for interviews."

"Microcontent sharing takes this to the next level: What if you could break down an article into its constituent parts and share them independently? Perhaps one day aggregators could reassemble not just articles into a personalized newspaper, but also individual quotes, images and videos? I'm so excited about microcontent sharing that we've implemented it into the new Mashable.com. If you visit an article on the site and hover over an image or quote, we provide options to share that piece of content to your social networks. We hope to take this idea even further in future iterations, but it's a start."

"People. Listen. 3D printing is not just 2D printing with another dimension added on. Yes, the names are very similar, but their uses are not even remotely analogous. We may reasonably conclude, therefore, that 1) 3D printing will not recapitulate the history of 2D printing, 2) as soon as you make an argument along those lines you lose all credibility and look like an idiot."

Even if we have the best intentions for keeping in contact with old friends, former colleagues and random acquaintances, as our social networks grow, it can be hard to follow through. Here are five apps that try to make it a little easier.

Withings' new Smart Body Analyzer is an Internet-connected scale that tracks your weight, body fat, heart rate, and even the temperature of your room.

Called Smileage, the app syncs with Google+ so others can monitor particular trips, and draw in data, comments on photos from all the phones which are synced with the car during any given journey. Users are awarded Smileage points for completing certain tasks, such as uploading photos. Even passing other VW's count, as the app creates a little 'punch' every one is passed on the road.

Here's a video about Smileage: http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/volkswagen-smileage-social-road-trips-powered-by-google/

premium Storify!  brands can customize it Real-time updates: Publishers can now live-blog using Storify complete with dynamic, live updating of all stories. Custom story display: Ability to customize how Storify works on a publisher's site with full CSS styling options and unrestricted API access Enterprise-level support: Storify is giving priority technical support to VIP customers either by email or phone and an "enhanced Service Level Agreement" Custom sources: Publishers can now mix their own content, including posts, photos, or even comments into their Storify content by creating a custom source Private stories: Storify now allows publishers to share stories privately within an organization

Cody also acts as a kind of virtual coach. When users first load the app, they're asked to identify their goals - from losing weight to building muscle tone to de-stressing. For now, the app just surfaces original content about workouts, healthy living and other topics that match up with those goals. But, ultimately, Javid said, the plan is for Cody to learn from users' activity and recommend articles, workouts, people or places that fit their interests. In time, he added, the app could integrate with fitness tracking devices to get an even more comprehensive view of each user.

The app can determine if a stuffed animal is being hugged, squeezed, or even moved, using the smartphone's camera and flash. As the toy is compressed, so is the soft foam inside, which decreases the brightness level of photos taken using the camera's flash. And in the same way an optical mouse can track movement by comparing sequential images, the app could easily determine if a plush toy is being moved and played with, automatically triggering sound effects as a result.

"But advertisers have loads of their own offline data from existing customers that they have not been able to use to target search ads. Conversions API allows those advertisers to upload phone numbers and in-store purchase data and use that information to target search ads through DoubleClick, Google's search ad system. Google's announcement was thin on details. It says advertisers can now "upload new conversions to account for in-store transactions, call-tracking, or other offline activities, or edit existing conversions to account for discounts, returns, credit, or fraud.""